Run they said to a promised land
Run and find us a helping hand
Don't come back till the sun is gone
Don't come back till the war is won
We all set out with our hearts in hand
A cold wind covered up a line in the sand
All so young, nothing to lose
Pieces of silver and a dead man's shoes
And oh, do you know what I'm saying?
Strike a light to guide us somewhere
Tempest swells our worlds collide
Arrows from above and the salt in our eyes
Then as the sky began to bruise
We all sought shelter from the breaking news
Oh, did I ever show you
All the great memorials, all the factory floors?
And oh, though you know I don't know you
Now that we're here let's make them proud
On and on and on and on and on and on we go
Traipsing over bridges, over corpses down below
And all the while we could have smiled for one thing on our minds
The very thing you strive for is the thing that makes you blind
Run they said to a promised land
Run and find us a helping hand
Don't come back till the sun is gone
Don't come back till the war is won
Tempest high, stories tall
Thought that we learnt nothing at all
Then at last the day was saved
With flowers borrowed from a dead friends grave
And oh, even still I don't know you
Maybe I'll show you if you've eyes to see
And so farewell
And so farewell
And so farewell
And so farewell to it