There's a grief that can't be spoken. There's a pain goes on and on. Empty chairs at empty tables Now my friends are dead and gone.
Here they talked of revolution. Here it was they lit the flame. Here they sang about `tomorrow' And tomorrow never came.
From the table in the corner They could see a world reborn And they rose with voices ringing I can hear them now! The very words that they had sung Became their last communion On the lonely barricade at dawn.
Oh my friends, my friends forgive me
(The ghosts of those who died on the barricade appear)
That I live and you are gone. There's a grief that can't be spoken. There's a pain goes on and on.
Phantom faces at the window. Phantom shadows on the floor. Empty chairs at empty tables Where my friends will meet no more.
(The ghosts fade away)
Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me What your sacrifice was for Empty chairs at empty tables Where my friends will sing no more.