Welcome Home Lyrics - Singles - Eric Bogle

"Welcome Home" 

-Eric Bogle 

Now when the boys came home, Annie cried and Annie cheered 

She'd been on her own for a long and lonely year 

Living for his letters from far away Vietnam 

And dreading the official telegram 

So she was waiting at the station when his train came rolling in 

She ached with anticipation of holding him again 

And suddenly he was standing there in his crumpled uniform 

In a heartbeat she was in his arms 

Welcome home, boys, welcome home 

Don't you know, you've been gone too long 

Did you wonder, over there, 

when you were tired, when you were scared, 

If your country really cared, welcome home 

When a nation goes to war, everyone's a casualty 

Some are maimed and scarred, most have wounds you cannot see 

So in place of the man that she had known, 

Annie found instead, a sick and troubled stranger in her bed 

But she was stubborn, she was lovin', so she stayed all through the years 

The hard times and the drinking, the nightmares and the tears 

For where hate is muddy quicksand, love is tempered steel 

Annie waited for his wounds to heal 

Welcome home, boys, welcome home 

Don't you know, you've been gone too long 

We're just so glad that you're alive 

And only you will wonder why 

You lived when others died, welcome home 

So on a sunny Sydney morning, I heard old war drums beat 

and watched the boys come marching, down the city street* 

To claim their place in the nation's heart 

that their blood and pain had earned 

A nation that rejoiced in their return 

And if the day helped to heal some wounds is a matter of debate 

For some it had come none too soon, for others far too late 

But I found myself hoping, as the boys went marching past 

That for them the war was over, at last 

Welcome home, boys, welcome home 

Don't you know, you've been gone too long 

What you went through in Vietnam, we can't begin to understand 

But to each and every man, welcome home 

Welcome home, boys, welcome home 

Don't you know, you've been gone too long 

May the years bring you release, as the memories decrease 

May you find some kind of peace, welcome home 

May you find some kind of peace, welcome home 

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NOTES: 

ANZAC Day Parade. ANZAC Day is Australia's version of 

Memorial Day in the US and Canada