Here they come marching past the houses, shiny boots and khaki blouses Stiff as the creases in their trousers standing tall and straight and strong And they all keep in step together glint of steel and flash of leather Braving every kind of weather as they boldly march along You may dismiss it as a ploy for the enlistment of the boys Who’ll be impressed to see the toys and play the games that can be played And you may well prefer abstention but I feel compelled to mention You’d do well to pay attention when the Boys are on Parade. Look at your sons before they’re older they’ll be stronger they’ll be bolder Just the thing to make a soldier and we’ll turn them into men And they’ll be taught to follow orders, keep the peace and guard the borders To protect us from marauders and defend us to the end. But the position they’ll be filling is to be able and be willing To be killed or do the killing when there’s a price that must be paid And you may well prefer abstention but I feel compelled to mention You’d do well to pay attention when the Boys are on Parade. In the pursuit of a community of decency and unity And equal opportunity we stand prepared to fight And if there’s a threat to our position from aggressive opposition The with guns and ammunition we’ll defend with all our might. We’ll dehumanise and hate them send in the troops to decimate them As in the name of the Nation all it stands for is betrayed And you may well prefer abstention but I feel compelled to mention You’d do well to pay attention when the Boys are on Parade. Merely the whim or intuition of an elected politician Makes a melee without conditions as the monster quits the cage Its a machine that knows no quarter dealing death and sowing slaughter Raping mothers, wives and daughters in an all consuming rage We may well decide we need it and we’ll pay to arm and feed it But can you tell me who will lead it when the decisions must be made And you may well prefer abstention but I feel compelled to mention You’d do well to pay attention when the Boys are on Parade. Some will wonder what’s to fear and say there is no danger here But there has never been a year when Soldiers haven’t been at war And the eternal executions and the bloody revolutions And the ultimate solutions too have all been seen before. And there’s always someone scheming and sometimes at night when dreaming In the distance I hear screaming and in my heart I feel afraid And you may well prefer abstention but I feel compelled to mention You’d do well to pay attention when the Boys are on Parade.