Then turning toward the sunset, he smiled a wicked smile
The drummer got drunk and the bugler got tight
So she took them to her side that day and she told them one by one
In a patriotic manner with the cold steel on their backs
There would be no sweet reunion, there would be no wedding bells
Let's drink to the men who got caught by the chill
While the boys in the back sang a song of good cheer
That their father was shot down
The patriot's dream is as old as the sky
How could she tell those children
When she heard the name of someone who said he'd be home soon
As she waited out the dawn
The patriot's dream still lives on today
Let's drink to the men who got caught by the chill
Well, there was a young girl watching in the early afternoon
They might be in some prison, I hope they're treated well
She received a sad, sad message
Well, he called to his wife one day, "Come sit with me awhile"
"Well I'd like to say, I'm sorry for the sinful deeds I've done
He tried to do his duty and it took him straight to hell
They tell of the boys who went down to the tracks
It makes mothers weep and it makes lovers pray
But let me first remind you, I'm a patriotic son"
They cling like the rust on the cold steel that kills
They tell of the boys who went down to the tracks
So she took herself into her room and she turned the bed sheets down
In a patriotic manner with the cold steel on their backs
The drummer got drunk and the bugler got tight
While riding off to glory in the spring of their years
Weeping all night long
While riding off to glory in the spring of their years
And she cried into the silken folds of her new wedding gown
From a voice on the telephone
Let's drink to the men who got caught by the chill
Well, there was an old man sitting in his mansion on the hill
The train pulled away on that glorious night
It lives in the lust of a cold callous lie
Of the patriotic fever and the cold steel that kills
He might be in some prison, I hope he's treated well
While the boys in the back sang a song of good cheer
And he thought of his good fortune and the time he'd yet o kill
Well, there was a sad, sad lady
He might be in some prison, I hope he's treated well
The patriot's dream still lives on today
Of the patriotic fever and the cold steel that kills
They tried to do their duty and it took 'em straight to hell
The train pulled away on that glorious night
Your father was a good man ten thousand miles from home
It makes mothers weep and it makes lovers pray
The songs of the wars are as old as the hills
And she wondered how they got him, but the papers did not tell
Her children were all sleeping
He tried to do his duty and it took him straight to hell
