How to make amends for the things they said The girls avoid the stormy sky But I and my cloudy face Will be gone, high-tailing out of here Is the lights a-blazing in their lonely town? I love the little cars at dawn But I and my heathen heart Will be lain upon some foreign shore Here's the saddest Joe on the corner of the town "Listen to the words!" he cries I love him in his craziness, his tatters and his courage He'll thumb his nose at the straight and true When the boys come marching home They'll fly his rags from the highest tree When the boys come marching home (when the boys come marching home) (home, marching home) Aching for some innocence and peace of mind While the moon pulls up its net of souls The sun presses down on my brave new world But, in truth, i don't feel brave at all Leave it all behind me to the townies and the wags The kids who never learned to smile While I and the cobbled nag I ride Stumble down another weary mile Here's to those who cluster Walking through the wars The girls who never close 'til dawn They rag upon the feeble And they swan around the stronger But their eyes are fixed on the edge of town When the boys come marching home They'll slide from view - tiny, two by two When the boys come marching home (home, marching home) (home, marching home) When the boys come marching home (when the boys come marching home) Boys come marching home (home, marching home) (home, when the boys come marching home) (home, marching home) (home) (when the boys come marching home)