All of the boys have gone down to the fight The balalaika's ringing out through the night Everyone turns in surprise and delight As Vasily orders a drink He knows that I fell alone Screaming out through blood and through bone But the song comes over the gramophone, The Dance of the Old Brigade
Alas, says he, with a wave of his hands When the armies of the madman they tore through this land We lost more than you kids understand And now there is nothing to save And my heart is dry as a stone As he turns to take the southern roads home And I know that soon I'll be left alone With the dance of the old brigade
And you who would make a fire in these men Their guts for your kindling and a whispered amen When the armies of the Saviour come marching again Youll lie in the beds that you've made For somewhere by the banks of the Lee There's a woman waiting forever for me And the song goes whistling through the chestnut trees The dance of the Old Brigade