Tender Comrade

by Billy Bragg





What will you do when the war is over, tender comrade

When we lay down our weary guns

When we return home to our wives and families

And look into the eyes of our sons

What will you say of the bond we had, tender comrade

Will you say that we were brave

As the shells fell all around us

Or that we wept and cried for our mothers

And cursed our fathers

For forgetting that all men are brothers



Will you say that we were heroes

Or that fear of dying among strangers

Tore our innocence and false shame away

And from that moment on deep in my heart I knew

That I would only give my life for love



Brothers in arms in each other arms

Was the only time that I was not afraid

What will you do when the war is over, tender comrade

When we cast off these khaki clothes

And go our separate ways

What will you say of the bond we had

Tender comrade