I have watched you suffer
While the battle raged on
Though i nearly died
For once i was never alone
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There are so many different worlds
And in all may we triumph
As we did once before
Let our blood
Water the trees of liberty
May the moon howl our names
Across mountains and seas
Let our tales be told
By the children unborn


It's a life we have to live
Until we no more do
It hurts us badly though
Everyone has to die
Now i bid you farewell
My brothers in arms

As we journey into the life
Beyond and after
May we stand together
Forever as brothers in arms

In this far strange land
Is a place i call home
Someday we'll return
To our loved ones at home
And won't have to fight to be
Brothers in arms

Brothers i ate with
Fought with
Bled with
With my last breath
I'll stand by you
My brothers in arms

Let us fight till the end
Just as we did before
As we march on to victory
With blood on our hands
Side by side
With our brothers in arms

I spent Christmas in a foxhole,
Listening to Stille Nacht across the way,
The tree line sang,
And it was dark, deep and snowing,
But the white ground reflected just fine against the moon,
Now I can't eat cherry snow cones,
Because of the way the tracks dragged along and then stopped,
You could still make out a body if you tried,
Well we were taught never to leave a good man behind,
But sometimes there wasn't much man left,
And sometimes there was just too much man to take,
In a land where over twenty-five was old,
Me, Don and George we were just kids,
And my Ma kept trying to send me birthday cake for finally becoming a man,
She kept asking "Was I keeping warm?"
Was I keeping warm?

Angry didn't begin to cover the way no one mentioned him again,
After he fell,
I was keeper of dog tags, locked in my fist,
Fear like a sneeze,
Always at the back of my throat but I didn't let it go,
So I cried alone,
And we tried to get by together,
And I wish I could say he was always with us,
The forgotten shadow in the foxhole,
But the truth is he was taken with little resistance,
And I never saw him again,
Third grade captain of the baseball team,
Kissed a girl before I did,
I was afraid to wash the filthy clothes he left behind,
For fear of wiping him from existence,
They let me keep a shirt without bloodstains,
And it felt like home for months,
Until the smell of my friend began to fade.

I had to stand up,
To be the best man I could be,
Because German was in my tongue and so far away for everyone else,
I saw the dead walking towards me in striped pyjamas,
Shook my head and said: "I don't wanna",
Well my boys picked me up and said: "Joey, you just gotta",
So I saw the worst of what humans can do,
Looked apathetic, like a soldier,
Didn't cry,
But when he told me: "I am a Jew",
I answered: "So am I",
And the star of David he wore on his arm,
Mine was tattooed on my heart,
Once we'd calmed them down,
Denied them my box of rations,
I fell to my knees and sobbed,
Humans punishing humans punishing humans,
And no amount of screaming would stop the film behind my eyes,
They told me I did well today,
"Joe, you did good for your people."

It's been a tough war,
It's been a long war,
And my girl back home,
I married her straight away,
Even though she wasn't a Jew,
But I could have lived and died in her beautiful blonde hair,
So my Ma loved her anyway,
I wanted several daughters,
And I wanted several sons,
So they could have brothers like I did,
My girl called me a hero,
But I ain't no hero,
I ain't no saint,
I ain't no warrior,
I ain't no order,
I ain't no weapon,
No blood,
No war,
I am the cry for a medic in the dead of night,
I am the line of defence that would not move,
I am no surrender,
I am a survivor,
I am surviving still,
I am a husband,
A father,
A friend,
But most of all,

I am a Brother.

Was it as cold there
as it is here?
You told me once
it felt like you
were constantly covered in a blanket
that was a little too short
to fully cover you

February had never been as frigid
as it was when you were
woken up from warm dreams
to fireworks and cold screams
or
when your brothers received
“Dear John” letters
from lovers who now love
someone else.
Happy Valentine’s day

The only thing you received
was a small post card
which read,
“I miss you
come home safe
I will wait for you.”
You told me
It kept you warm
for the next two months
this burden
carried next to
your heart

Your chest always ached
from there on out