[15:05.00]The orders came, the midnight rain
[15:05.00]Was driving down the window pane
[15:05.00]They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
[15:05.00]Showed them green and new to battle
[15:05.00]Out on the road, the mud knee-high
[15:05.00]The tortured trucks were slithering by
[15:05.00]Toward the ruptured, shattered sky
[15:05.00]They strove. It hardly mattered why
[15:05.00]We find our hero in the mud
[15:05.00]We guess the fever in his blood
[15:05.00]We try, as he, to laugh at this
[15:05.00]The Iron Man whom bullets
[15:05.00]He's right, the song has just begun
[15:05.00]We'd never kill a man so young
[15:05.00]He's right, the song has just begun
[15:05.00]We'd never kill a man so young
[15:05.00]The sergeant, how they loathed his guts
[15:05.00]He led them down the waggon ruts
[15:05.00]One truck is stalled, the drivers curse
[15:05.00]It's either ambulance or hearse
[15:05.00]The air grows foul, the heavy stench
[15:05.00]Is seeping from the ancient trench
[15:05.00]He takes his place and laughs at this
[15:05.00]The Iron Man whom bullets miss
[15:05.00]He's right, no matter how they try
[15:05.00]The song's too young for him to die
[15:05.00]He's right, no matter how they try
[15:05.00]The song's too young for him to die
[15:05.00]The orders came, the midnight rain
[15:05.00]Was driving down the window pane
[15:05.00]They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
[15:05.00]Showed them green and new to battle
[15:05.00]Winter came early to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow
[15:05.00]The builders looked at its unfinished frame, then turned to go
[15:05.00]A small foundation, a pile of sand, a rusty hammer in a cold, cold hand
[15:05.00]It wasn't a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came hard
[15:05.00]Winter was death to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow
[15:05.00]Warped its timbers and cracked the foundations, then turned to go
[15:05.00]The sketch was crumpled in a cold, cold hand. The hammer buried in the pile of sand
[15:05.00]The builders' thoughts were of virgin land when winter came early and winter came hard
[15:05.00]Spring was puzzled by the house on the hill, last patch of snow
[15:05.00]Gave it flowers and climbing vines, then turned to go
[15:05.00]Small boys played on the pile of sand, plastic weapons in their eager hands
[15:05.00]It wasn't a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came hard
[15:05.00]The young lieutenant, new to war
[15:05.00]Is sick upon the trench's floor
[15:05.00]The sergeant, how they cursed his head
[15:05.00]Is suddenly quite cold and dead
[15:05.00]The deafening explosions cease
[15:05.00]The calm a cruel burlesque of peace
[15:05.00]The whistle blows, the charge is made
[15:05.00]The Iron Man is unafraid
[15:05.00]He's right, he's young and brave and strong
[15:05.00]Just the kind to fill a song
[15:05.00]He's right, he's young and brave and strong
[15:05.00]Just the kind to fill a song
[15:05.00]The orders came, the midnight rain
[15:05.00]Was driving down the window pane
[15:05.00]They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
[15:05.00]Showed them green and new to battle
[15:05.00]Frost on the blankets of the strong boys' room
[15:05.00]Heat for the sissies, for the prep-school pansies
[15:05.00]Ice cold showers for the cool platoon
[15:05.00]Once a month a card to mamma
[15:05.00]Wipe that smile off and shine your brass
[15:05.00]Grab your ankles and I'll give you twenty
[15:05.00]Drop that rifle and I'll have your ass
[15:05.00]Once a month a card to mamma
[15:05.00]Play me the Taps, the quadrangle's sleeping
[15:05.00]Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
[15:05.00]Someone is weeping. I'll be all right
[15:05.00]Goodnight. Goodnight
[15:05.00]Town girls love it in the picture shows
[15:05.00]Save the dances for the home-town ladies
[15:05.00]Save five dollars for the one who knows
[15:05.00]Once a month a card to mamma
[15:05.00]Grab your ankles for the old cadets
[15:05.00]Drop your trousers and you'll get what's coming
[15:05.00]Is there more to this than you're quite sure of?
[15:05.00]Put it in a card to mamma
[15:05.00]Play me the Taps, the quadrangle's sleeping
[15:05.00]Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
[15:05.00]Someone is weeping. I'll be all right
[15:05.00]Goodnight, goodnight!
[15:05.00]Play me the Taps, the quadrangle's sleeping
[15:05.00]The whistle blows. The charge is made
[15:05.00]The Iron Man is unafraid
[15:05.00]The young lieutenant screams out loud
[15:05.00]The bullets hum like a startled crowd
[15:05.00]The young lieutenant screams and falls
[15:05.00]The Iron Man runs up the walls
[15:05.00]And blows the enemy a kiss
[15:05.00]The Iron Man whom bullets miss
[15:05.00]He's right, the man whom bullets miss
[15:05.00]Is meant for something more than this
[15:05.00]He's right, the man whom bullets miss
[15:05.00]Is meant for something more than this
[15:05.00]The orders came, the midnight rain
[15:05.00]Was driving down the window pane
[15:05.00]They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
[15:05.00]Showed them green and new to battle
[15:05.00]Angie, from where I stand
[15:05.00]The water breaks on the spit of sand
[15:05.00]How does it survive?
[15:05.00]Angie, for all I know
[15:05.00]The sand is tired and ready to go
[15:05.00]It's less than alive
[15:05.00]But you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
[15:05.00]Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
[15:05.00]Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
[15:05.00]Angie, If Angie's your name!
[15:05.00]Angie, from where I stand
[15:05.00]Your smile is so discretely planned
[15:05.00]I'm not sure it's there
[15:05.00]Angie, for all I know
[15:05.00]You'll notice me, you'll turn and go
[15:05.00]You won't even care
[15:05.00]That's you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
[15:05.00]Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
[15:05.00]Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
[15:05.00]Angie, If Angie's your name!
[15:05.00]Angie, I was getting along
[15:05.00]Nothing quite right, but nothing too wrong
[15:05.00]I didn't know you existed
[15:05.00]I ran my life like a safe machine
[15:05.00]Lost myself in a safe routine
[15:05.00]But now it's all twisted
[15:05.00]With my hand on the knife
[15:05.00]For the rest of my life
[15:05.00]Angie, from where I stand
[15:05.00]You rise and wave an ungloved hand
[15:05.00]You smile in the sun
[15:05.00]Angie, you smile for him
[15:05.00]He calls to you. The light is dim
[15:05.00]You break into a run
[15:05.00]And you're gone. So ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
[15:05.00]Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
[15:05.00]Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
[15:05.00]Angie, If Angie's your name!
[15:05.00]The battered fort is ours again
[15:05.00]It only cost ten-thousand men
[15:05.00]And when a young lieutenant dies
[15:05.00]Some survivor has to rise
[15:05.00]So like a humble prayer of thanks
[15:05.00]The Iron Man goes up the ranks
[15:05.00]The man whom bullets miss goes far
[15:05.00]He wins a kiss and wears a star
[15:05.00]And he's right – a man who lives through that
[15:05.00]Deserves a star upon his hat
[15:05.00]He's right – a man who lives through that
[15:05.00]Deserves a star upon his hat
[15:05.00]And now the nation cheers his name
[15:05.00]The politicians play his game
[15:05.00]He's coaxed and shrewdly follows fate
[15:05.00]Until he's leader of the State
[15:05.00]The peace grows dull, the pace too slow
[15:05.00]At last he finds convenient foe
[15:05.00]The Congress balks, the galleries hiss
[15:05.00]The Iron Man whom bullets miss
[15:05.00]But he's right, the man whom bullets miss
[15:05.00]Is meant for something more than this
[15:05.00]He's right, the Generals pat their guns
[15:05.00]And Congress turns and Congress runs
[15:05.00]He's right, the nation shouts its thanks
[15:05.00]The young men run to join the ranks
[15:05.00]He's right, his name is in their blood
[15:05.00]While huddling in some foreign mud
[15:05.00]The orders came, the midnight rain
[15:05.00]Was driving down the window pane
[15:05.00]They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
[15:05.00]Showed them green and new to battle
[15:05.00]Play me the Taps, the quadrangle's sleeping
[15:05.00]Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
[15:05.00]Someone is weeping, I'll be all right
[15:05.00]Goodnight, goodnight!
[15:05.00]