THE GIFT OF YEARS
(Eric Bogle)

Well, old friend, here I am
I told you I'd be back
And as usual, mate, I'm bloody late
It's seventy-five years down the track
For the last time, here I stand
In this familiar foreign land
Back with the mates I left behind
Fixed forever in their time

And of all the ghosts of all the boys
That haunt this lonely place
Only one of them wears your cheeky grin
And your Queensland joker's face
And as I drown in old and bloody dreams
Of helpless young men's dying screams
I feel your hand give my arm a shake
And your voice say, "Steady, mate!"

And the country that you died for, mate
You would not know it now
And the future that we dreamed of, mate
Got all twisted up somehow.
The peace that we were fighting for
The end to stupid senseless war
So it couldn't happen to our kids
Well, old mate, it did!

And thank you for the gift of years
And the flame that brightly burns
For the time you bought and the lessons taught
So often wasted and unlearned
"Lest we forget," cries the multitude
As if I ever, ever could
So forgive an old man's tears
And thank you for the years

Youtube clip

--Stewie.