Intro: In position pluck the three top strings.
Verse 1:
Young men and soldiers, nineteen fourteen.
Marching through countries they d never seen
Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
All for a children s crusade
Verse 2: Follow same format as verse 1
Pawns in the game are not victims of chance
Strewn on the fields of Belgium and France
Poppies for young men, death s bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
Chorus:
The children of England would never be slaves
They re trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The Flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation
Verse 3: follow same format as verse 1
Corpulent generals safe behind lines
History s lessons drowned in red wine
Poppies for young men, death s bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
Instrumental solo
Bass line during instrumental is:
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E-----------------| Repeat this throughout the instrumental
B-----------------|
G-----------------|
D----0------------|
A-0-2--0-2--------|
E---------0-------|
Repeat Chorus
Verse 3: follow same format as in verse 1
Midnight in Soho nineteen eighty-four
Fixing in door ways, opium slaves
Poppies for young men, death s bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a children s crusade.
Fade.