Lyrics

SO LITTLE GAIN

The city moved on as it always did
The old man stood face barely lit
The autumn chill matched the one in his heart
So many years since he played his part
He thought of the war and his friends who were slain
So much lost for so little gain

In a Flanders field in the rain she stood
Her tear stained face under her hood
She placed the flowers on the sodden grave
In memory of one fallen brave
It was a stone inscribed with no one’s name
So much lost for so little gain

And each November we ring the bell
Fewer people march less stories to tell
Of the friends, brothers, husbands, fathers and all
Who answered but never returned from the call

Humanity lay broken as the ending came
For a few miles lost and a few miles gained
The eleventh hour of the eleventh day
And a whole generation blown away
So the guns fell silent to the devil’s disdain
So much lost for so little gain

And each November we ring the bell
Fewer people march less stories to tell
Of the friends, brothers, husbands, fathers and all
Who answered but never returned from the call

So they sat in class as teacher told
Of the brave, the fallen, and days of old
And the old men faded one by one
Just a poppy to remind us of what they’d done
And time rolled on like a runaway train
So much lost for so little gain

And each November we ring the bell
Fewer people march less stories to tell
Of the friends, brothers, husbands, fathers and all
Who answered but never returned from the call

So the years have passed and we’ve been taught
Of the wealth and power that oil has brought
And our young folk die in a foreign war
As the country’s askin’ what it’s for
As we lose our brave to the government’s shame
So much lost for so little gain

And each November we ring the bell
Fewer people march less stories to tell
Of the friends, brothers, husbands, daughters and all
Who answered but never returned from the call
Who answered but never returned from the call
Who answered but never returned