For all the Glorious Vanquished. It's cold in the trenches tonight.

Marching skyward banners raised
Down the high street winds the annual masquerade
Salutes and standards flags and flames
Decry our penitence and shame

And in the lines of Graves
The poppies and the pansies look the same

Old campaigners on parade
Coloured ribbons on their uniforms displayed
Bow their silver heads and pray
While the solemn bugles bray

And in the lines of Graves
On brisker feet the nimble meters play

In the first row lay the Colonel and his lady
So we clip the grass and trim the weeds away
In the second and the third
They had the General Staff interred
On the fourth row lay the Captain's pretty flowers every day
In the fifth and sixth and seventh
Sergeant Majors and non-commissioned souls are on parade
In eight eleven nine and ten
Cheek to cheek and end to end
All the conscripts and enlisted men were laid

Past the lectern down the nave
Carved initials in the varnish black with age
Hear the whispers turn the page
From the plates of brass erased

And in the lines of Graves
Are the faces and the half-forgotten names

Through the lychgate down the lane
Beneath the jackdaw choir the music's gentle strain
Frees our hearts and soothes our pain
Sends us marching home again

And in the lines of Graves
The cannon fire has faded into rain

Over here lie the Colonel and his lady
Arm and arm these luckless lovers lay
See here he steals a kiss
From her cracked and crumbling lips
Underneath the poppies in the cold cold clay
March me off to heaven Sergeant Major
Show me how a soldier should behave
Tip me over end and as we kiss and kiss again
Will you remember all the promises you made
Or will you leave me with the mourning
Where all the conscripts and enlisted men were laid

Now the white horse on the hill begins to fade
The sexton's carved his figures in the clay
And though the armistice is over
In the lines of Graves
The faces and the half-forgotten names still remain

Chords:
Intro./Verse B E D A E
Chorus A D A E A D E D A F#m E A D A E A D E D A E A