10000 Maniacs - Anthem For Doomed Youth lyrics

[ music: john lombardo/lyric: john lombardo adapts wilfred owen ]<br><br><br>For whom the bells toll<br>When sentenced to die<br>The stuttering rifles<br>Will stifle the cry<br>The monstrous anger<br>The fear's rapid rattle<br>A desert inferno<br>Kids dying like cattle<br><br>Don't tell me<br>We're not prepared<br>I've seen today's marine<br>He's eighteen and he's eager<br>He can be quite mean<br><br>No mock'ries for them<br>No prayers or bells<br>The demented choirs<br>The wailing of shells<br>The boys holding candles<br>On untraveled roads<br>The fear spreads like fire<br>As shrapnel explodes<br><br>I think it's wrong<br>To conscript our youth<br>Against their will<br>When plenty of our citizenry<br>Really like to kill<br><br>What sign posts will lead<br>To armageddon's fires<br>What bugles will call them<br>From crowded grey shires<br>The women sit quiet<br>With death on their minds<br>A slow dusk descending<br>The drawing of blinds<br><br>Make the hunters all line up<br>It's their idea of fun<br>And let those be forgiven<br>Who never owned a gun<br>Was it him or me<br>Or the wailing of the dead<br>The laughing soldiers<br>Cast their lots<br>And you can cut the dread