When he died:       I could see it all clearly
                                 and the memories become more vivid
                                 I saw his life   before mine had started
                                 I remembered
                                                what he had told me
                                                about the trenches
                                                on the Somme.    

When he died:       his war ended
                                 and the guns fell silent
                                 a white flag covered his corpse
                                 and the smoke
                                                 from his pipe
                                                 drifted away
                                                 over the poppy fields.

When he died:       the opium went with him
                                 the mud of the trench claimed him
                                 war became a television programme
                                 and my world seemed
                                                   a
                                                   safer
                                                   place.