Fish - The Leaving lyrics

In the gnawing bite of winter The winds, bone chilling, howl Pale skies of swirling snowflakes Lay a shroud upon the ground To a scarred and shattered landscape Some brief dignity is shown Where the dead remain unburied On the dark and blood-stained earth The fronts inch slowly forward The battalions follow on The new blood marches to The Caissons song Strangers fill the spaces Join the beleaguered rank and file Resigned to further battles Further up the line But the ground will be retaken The offensives bogging down Countering attacks They stall and fail The stalemate still continued And the guns still took their toll And the generals counted casualties As the soldiers vainly fell It had to end, the armies broken One side had lost but who had won? The ravaged land, the decimation So hard to bear, the loss and pain The men returned, the war was over The bells rang out, a country cheered Behind their eyes, they stored the horrors Behind their smiles, they hid their fears The medals and the honours Were handed out to those who served The letters of condolences Were kept Reminding generations Of the sacrifices made The suffering and the torment Of the men most never knew, lest we forget