Verse
Am Dm Am G
Oh a father and son, they were bonded as one
C G Dm
But the heart of the family soon tore
C G Dm G
For out sounded the call, to one and to all
C G Am
That the king and the land went to war
Chorus
Am Dm Am G
Oh, the laddie he cried, but his father denied
C G Dm
To bring the young soldier along
C G Dm G
"For your might I award this wooden toy sword
C G Am
And I charge you to carry this song"
Am Dm Am G
Won't you come and wait for me at the gate
C G Dm
With your wooden toy sword in your hand?
C G Dm G
It is then I will come with the beat of the drum
C G Am
From defending my king and my land
Am Dm Am G
So the father, he taught his son as he ought
C G Dm
To defend both his hearth and his home
C G Dm G
But soon came the day that his Da went away
C G Am
Across the wild horses of foam
Chorus
Am Dm Am G
Oh, the laddie he cried, but his father denied
C G Dm
To bring the young soldier along
C G Dm G
"For your might I award this wooden toy sword
C G Am
And I charge you to carry this song"
Am Dm Am G
He practiced 'til night with skill and with might
C G Dm
To learn how to fight for a king
C G Dm G
And he'd shun other boys with their useless new toys
C G Am
And he'd whistle a song and he'd sing
Am Dm Am G
Oh the years slowly turned, broad shoulders grew burned
C G Dm
Fine hair lengthened to a proud mane
C G Dm G
In the middle of spring with a fell practice swing
C G Am
The toy sword had broken in twain
Am Dm Am G
The break caused him harm, as the wood pierced his arm
C G Dm
And the blood flowed quite free to the ground
C G Dm G
As his vision grew dim the wind mourned out a hymn
C G Am
That echoed these words round and round
Chorus
Am Dm Am G
Oh, the laddie he cried, but his father denied
C G Dm
To bring the young soldier along
C G Dm G
"For your might I award this wooden toy sword
C G Am
And I charge you to carry this song"
Am Dm Am G
Though the day had grown late the young man went to wait
C G Dm
And unsteadily gazed at the sky
C G Dm G
As the red sun sank low, it soon caused him to know
C G Am
That his last day of childhood would die
Am Dm Am G
The stars swam across the night sky with his loss
C G Dm
And his father appeared in that sea
C G Dm G
And the drum of his heart nearly broke him apart
C G Am
As he fell to the ground on one knee
Am Dm Am G
For he'd come to wait for his Da at the gate
C G Dm
With a broken toy sword in his hand
C G Dm G
From beyond death he'll come with the beat of love's drum
C G Am
To honour his son and his land