And The Band Played The Star Spangled Banner

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Study War No More
Peace Poems and Service Songs by H. Paul Shuch

And The Band Played The Star Spangled Banner
lyrics copyright © 1999 by H. Paul Shuch
Sung to an original melody copyright © 1999 by H. Paul Shuch
Inspired by And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, © 1986 by Eric Bogle

Sung by Dr. SETI on the interactive CD Tune In The Universe!

Click on the speaker icon to hear Dr. SETI sing this song!

As I watch the parade pass the river
I remember the day that I marched off to war.
I was one of the lucky, I shiver,
Who never once stopped to ask "What's it all for?"
The walking unscathed. But the scars they run deep,
And they come back to haunt you whenever you sleep
Or the band plays the Star Spangled Banner.

Chorus:

And the band played the Star Spangled Banner
While the citizens watched with their heads held up high.
And they sang in a dignified manner,
Not a tear for the boys they were sending to die.
For the President said we'd stand up to aggression,
And keep the world free for democracy --
And the band played the Star Spangled Banner.

It was twenty nine years last September
I came home a hero, a villian, a fool.
I could neither forget nor remember,
Not even a weapon, but only a tool.
Too wakeful to watch and too weary to weep,
Too troubled to talk and no counsel to keep --
As the band played the Star Spangled Banner.

Chorus

We all were so young and so eager:
Untroubled, immortal, impervious to pain,
Never hearing the voice that runs deeper,
Never knowing we've done this again and again.
And they still march to battle, a promise to keep,
And their faces still haunt me whenever I sleep,
Or the band plays the Star Spangled Banner.

Chorus

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