Story Behind The Song

Australia commemorates its fallen veterans on 25 April each year - the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings in 1915. This day and what it stands for had immense significance for my Dad - a proud Australian, who defended the country he loved. Though he did not glorify war, he never forgot his fallen mates. Shortly after my Dad's death, I wrote this song in his memory - but also as a way of reinforcing our responsibility to remember those who have sacrificed or risked their lives in war. The words of the chorus are authentic - my Dad's own words in describing his war service.

Song Description

This song tells two parallel stories: my Dad's dedication to Anzac Day, the day Australians commemorate their war dead; and my own coming to understand, as best one can, why this day was so important to him, a returned veteran of World War II. The two stories symbolise the sacrifices of veterans and our need to understand what they have bequeathed us and to remember them.

Lyrics

I remember, as a child, we held in awe that April day.
We bowed before the Cenotaph; in silence, wreaths were laid.
We heard the story, once again, of brave young men who died.
I asked him why it meant so much that old men still would cry.

"Now unless you've heard the scream of shell, or the roar as bombs explode,
Or the ricochet of leaden hail, or know true mateship's code,
Or felt the clutch of icy fear, like steel hands 'round your throat,
You may but guess just how it was; but yours truly you can quote."

Throughout the years, he never missed a March or Dawn Parade.
I counted nearly sixty times, his medals' proud display.
At times, I might have questioned whether war was held too dear;
Yet when the lonely bugle called, I always shed a tear.

"Now unless you've heard the scream of shell, or the roar as bombs explode,
Or the ricochet of leaden hail, or know true mateship's code,
Or felt the clutch of icy fear, like steel hands 'round your throat,
You may but guess just how it was; but yours truly you can quote."

Even in his sunset years, he reverenced that day
'Til the time for all old soldiers came; I watched him fade away.
I thought of him last April day, the first one since he passed.
As the bugle sounded one more time, I knew my Dad at last.

"Now unless you've heard the scream of shell, or the roar as bombs explode,
Or the ricochet of leaden hail, or know true mateship's code,
Or felt the clutch of icy fear, like steel hands 'round your throat,
You may but guess just how it was; but yours truly you can quote."

"Now unless you've heard the scream of shell, or the roar as bombs explode,
You may but guess just how it was; but yours truly you can quote."