The Patriot's Dream Lyrics - Gordon Lightfoot

The songs of the wars are as old as the hills 

They cling like the rust on the cold steel that kills 

They tell of the boys who went down to the tracks 

In a patriotic manner with the cold steel on their backs 

The patriot's dream is as old as the sky 

It lives in the lust of a cold callous lie 

Let's drink to the men who got caught by the chill 

Of the patriotic fever and the cold steel that kills 

The train pulled away on that glorious night 

The drummer got drunk and the bugler got tight 

While the boys in the back sang a song of good cheer 

While riding off to glory in the spring of their years 

The patriot's dream still lives on today 

It makes mothers weep and it makes lovers pray 

Let's drink to the men who got caught by the chill 

Of the patriotic fever and the cold steel that kills 

Well, there was a sad, sad lady 

Weeping all night long 

She received a sad, sad message 

From a voice on the telephone 

Her children were all sleeping 

As she waited out the dawn 

How could she tell those children 

That their father was shot down 

So she took them to her side that day and she told them one by one 

Your father was a good man ten thousand miles from home 

He tried to do his duty and it took him straight to hell 

He might be in some prison, I hope he's treated well 

Well, there was a young girl watching in the early afternoon 

When she heard the name of someone who said he'd be home soon 

And she wondered how they got him, but the papers did not tell 

There would be no sweet reunion, there would be no wedding bells 

So she took herself into her room and she turned the bed sheets down 

And she cried into the silken folds of her new wedding gown 

He tried to do his duty and it took him straight to hell 

He might be in some prison, I hope he's treated well 

Well, there was an old man sitting in his mansion on the hill 

And he thought of his good fortune and the time he'd yet o kill 

Well, he called to his wife one day, "Come sit with me awhile" 

Then turning toward the sunset, he smiled a wicked smile 

"Well I'd like to say, I'm sorry for the sinful deeds I've done 

But let me first remind you, I'm a patriotic son" 

They tried to do their duty and it took 'em straight to hell 

They might be in some prison, I hope they're treated well 

The songs of the wars are as old as the hills 

They cling like the rust on the cold steel that kills 

They tell of the boys who went down to the tracks 

In a patriotic manner with the cold steel on their backs 

The train pulled away on that glorious night 

The drummer got drunk and the bugler got tight 

While the boys in the back sang a song of good cheer 

While riding off to glory in the spring of their years 

The patriot's dream still lives on today 

It makes mothers weep and it makes lovers pray 

Let's drink to the men who got caught by the chill 

Of the patriotic fever and the cold steel that kills