The Armistice was signed at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, to end The Great War, 1914-18 (ostensibly, "the war to end all wars"). Despite this agreement, shelling continued from both sides until nightfall.
In Australia, this commemorative day is now more commonly known as Remembrance Day : remembering all the fallen in all the conflicts in which Australia has taken part, and red poppies are worn by many as a personal symbol.

Noel dedicates this song to an injured ex-soldier friend, from Australia's more recent conflicts, who was treated shabbily by the 'Powers that Be'.


Armistice Day

by Noel Gardner, 2006


Silence tolls an hour ‘fore midday on the second last month of the year
Images flash on the eleventh day, as memories disappear
Now medals hang proudly and tributes flow as politicians push their line
Another year, less truth said, another war to justify.

Defend your country the posters read, in the name of national pride
But they don’t defend our soldiers of war, as disease eats them inside
Lying on his back in his hospital bed, he recalls in tales of pain
Denials, whitewash, cover-ups, protect the government’s shame.

Ch.
May we remember, lest we forget?
But the killings go on in the name of religion
In the hills and the deserts yet,
May we remember, lest we forget?
But the killings go on in the name of religion
In the hills and the deserts yet.

High in the sky, a target is selected from dots on the face of a screen
But the pilot never sees or hears from his cockpit the blood soaked tears and screams
Out in the field an innocent child, falls prey to clusters of time
Inhumanity, ideology, combines with greed and science.

Hide the coffins, distort statistics, don’t let anyone see
Rape for profit, kill for oil, in the name of liberty
Hollow words laced with fear fuel the government ‘guise
And in the in the name of deceit, spin and business, another soldier dies.

Ch.


But the killings go on in the name of religion
In the hills and the deserts yet.

Silence tolls an hour ‘fore midday on the second last month of the year……



Here is a clip of Noel Gardner & Alex Bridge singing "Armistice Day" :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpvMc5PPw3c


R-J