Welcome Home

"Welcome Home"

-Eric Bogle

Now when the boys came home, Annie cried and Annie cheered

She'd been on her own for a long and lonely year

Living for his letters from far away Vietnam

And dreading the official telegram

So she was waiting at the station when his train came rolling in

She ached with anticipation of holding him again

And suddenly he was standing there in his crumpled uniform

In a heartbeat she was in his arms

Welcome home, boys, welcome home

Don't you know, you've been gone too long

Did you wonder, over there,

when you were tired, when you were scared,

If your country really cared, welcome home

When a nation goes to war, everyone's a casualty

Some are maimed and scarred, most have wounds you cannot see

So in place of the man that she had known,

Annie found instead, a sick and troubled stranger in her bed

But she was stubborn, she was lovin', so she stayed all through the years

The hard times and the drinking, the nightmares and the tears

For where hate is muddy quicksand, love is tempered steel

Annie waited for his wounds to heal

Welcome home, boys, welcome home

Don't you know, you've been gone too long

We're just so glad that you're alive

And only you will wonder why

You lived when others died, welcome home

So on a sunny Sydney morning, I heard old war drums beat

and watched the boys come marching, down the city street*

To claim their place in the nation's heart

that their blood and pain had earned

A nation that rejoiced in their return

And if the day helped to heal some wounds is a matter of debate

For some it had come none too soon, for others far too late

But I found myself hoping, as the boys went marching past

That for them the war was over, at last

Welcome home, boys, welcome home

Don't you know, you've been gone too long

What you went through in Vietnam, we can't begin to understand

But to each and every man, welcome home

Welcome home, boys, welcome home

Don't you know, you've been gone too long

May the years bring you release, as the memories decrease

May you find some kind of peace, welcome home

May you find some kind of peace, welcome home