Poppies for a new generation

The war has come to England

Germany's all in a rage

The authorities are getting the guns out

And parliment's setting the stage

For the bright, hopeful youth of the kingdom

Must march in their lines to the front

Where the bullets and shrapnel are flying

To the war that nobody wants

And trying to guide them is Asquith

Whom to every one of them helves:

"Come boys and fight for your country

And we'll soon hear Christmas bells

The rose has the might of the lion

We cannot let Germany win

So come lads and fight for your country

And don't let the enemy in!"

The bombs, they fall on the cities,

The bombs, they fall on the schools

The war rages on without pity

Humanity's been overruled

The soldiers, they fall in the trenches

The soldiers, they fall in the field

The violence of war reaps a harvest of souls

But the poppy's the only yield

Now all that remains of the young men

Is the epitaph on the wall

A monument raised to honour them

And a warning to serve us all

So that even just once in the year

When the monument's adorned with flowers

We remember the men who served us,

We remember that final hour.

But do you remember them, Bush?

But do you remember them, Blair?

What is this buisness with Iraq

And why are you sending us there?

The bombs are once again falling

The country's gone to the knaves

Who can think of nothing but brawling,

Will the poppies cover our graves?

So go to the cold memorial

And wipe the graffiti away

Look at the names upon it

And think what they'd have to say

If they saw the country they died for

Once more to the trenches descend...

Perhaps we should dismantle the machine of war

And, maybe, start making amends.