ADD: My Youngest Son Came Home Today (Eric Bogle)

Subject: Lyr Add: MY YOUNGEST SON CAME HOME TODAY
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 11:37 AM

I don't think this is in the database.

My youngest son came home today.
His friends marched with him all the way.
The flutes and drums beat out the time,
As in his box of polished pine,
Like dead meat on a butcher's tray,
My youngest son came home today.

My youngest son was a fine young man,
With a wife a daughter and a son.
A man he would have lived and died,
'Til by a bullet sanctified.
Now he's a saint, or so they say,
They brought their saint home today.

Above the narrow Belfast streets,
An Irish sky looks down and weeps
On children's blood in gutters spilled
For dreams of freedom unfulfilled.
As part of freedom's price to pay,
My youngest son came home today.

My youngest son came home today.
His friends marched with him all the way.
The flutes and drums beat out the time
As in his box of polished pine,
Like dead meat on a butcher's tray,
My youngest so came home today,
And this time he's home to stay.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 23-Jul-02.

Subject: RE: Post Lyrics 'My Youngest Son'
From: DebC
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 12:07 PM

This was written by Eric Bogle.

Debra

Subject: RE: Post Lyrics 'My Youngest Son'
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 01:08 PM

For the original lyrics -a little different- as sung by Bogle himself, and posted by Wolfgang Hell in an earlier thread, see: My Youngest Son Came Home Today.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Post Lyrics 'My Youngest Son'
From: Fedele
Date: 25 Apr 00 - 01:45 PM

Also sung by Socialist rocksinger Billy Bragg on the EP "The Internationale". See www.billybragg.co.uk.

Subject: Lyr Add: HE'S COMING TO US DEAD (trad Appalachian)
From: Áine
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 11:34 AM

This song reminds so much of a traditional Appalachian song called HE'S COMING TO US DEAD:

One morning when the office had opened,
a man quite old in years,
approached the telegraph office,
showing signs of grief and tears,
As the clerk approached him,
his trembling words did say,
I'm waiting for my boy, sir,
he's coming home today.

You've made a sad mistake, sir,
and you must surely know,
This is the telegraph office, sir,
and not the town depo,
If your boy is coming home,
the clerk did quickly say,
You'll find him with the passengers
at the station just over the way.

You do not understand me, sir,
the old man shook his head.
He's not coming as a passenger,
but by express instead.
He's coming home to mother, sir,
the old man gently said,
He's coming in a casket, sir.
He's coming to us dead.

Just then the whistle pierced their ears,
and someone quickly cried.
The old man rose in breathless haste
and quickly rushed out side.
Then a long white casket
was lowered to the ground.
Then showing signs of grief and fear,
as they all had gathered 'round.

Don't handle the casket roughly, boys,
it contains our darling Jack.
He left here as you boys now are.
This way he's coming back.
He broke his dear old mother's heart,
her dreams have all come true.
That this is the way that he'd come back
when he joined the boys in blue.

Subject: My Youngest Son Came Home Today -
From: GUEST,cujimmy
Date: 23 Dec 00 - 03:56 PM

I would like to learn the words and know who wrote the song.

My youngest son came home today, His friends marched with him all the way. The pipes and drums beat out in time, As in a box of polished pine. Like dead meat on a butchers tray, My youngest son came home today.

I cat find it in the database. - thanks - jimmy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Youngest Son Came Home Today -
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 23 Dec 00 - 04:13 PM

If you were to type (for example) my youngest son in the "Digitrad and Forum Search" box on the main Forum page, two of the results you would get would be  Post Lyrics 'My Youngest Son'  and  My youngest son came home today.  The latter has Eric Bogle's original version; the former is later, slightly modified.  Don't forget that there are a great many songs in the Forum that haven't yet made it into the DT proper; often if you don't find a song in the database, a little searching will turn it up in a past discussion.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Youngest Son Came Home Today -
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 26 Dec 00 - 09:30 AM

You could also try here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Youngest Son Came Home Today -
From: Schmiddy
Date: 26 Dec 00 - 09:13 PM

You can hear a part of this wonderful song here: http://home.t-online.de/home/schmidt.home/youngest.mp3

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Youngest Son Came Home Today -
From: Schmiddy
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 02:24 AM

Sorry, the right link is: http://home.t-online.de/home/schmidt.home/zwcd.htm or: www.zeitenwind.de

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Youngest Son Came Home Today -
From: GUEST,Karie O.
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 01:54 PM

Mary Black recorded a version of this song. You may consider checking out her site. I know that it was on her 1988 "Collected" CD.

Subject: Lyr Add: MY YOUNGEST SON CAME HOME TODAY
From: GUEST,Karie O.
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 02:53 PM

Now this song is stuck in my head. Thanks. :)
These are the lyrics as I recall them. I first learned this song from a fellow musician here in Minnesota. The lyrics may not be totally correct, but here's at least an idea:

My youngest son came home today;
His friends marched with him all the way;
The pipes and drums beat out the time,
As in his box of polished pine;
Like dead meat on a butcher's tray-
My youngest son came home today.

My youngest son was a fine young man;
With a wife, a daughter, and 2 sons
A man he would have lived and died
Till by a bullet sanctified (? line may be different)
Like dead meat on a butcher's tray
My youngest son came home today.

Above the narrow Belfast streets,
An Irish sky looks down and weeps,
As children's blood in gutters spill,
While dream of freedom are unfulfilled
As part of freedom's price to pay
My youngest son came home today.

(Repeat first verse)

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 23-Jul-02.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Youngest Son Came Home Today -
From: cujimmy
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 03:45 PM

Thankyou all for your help - regards - jimmy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Youngest Son Came Home Today -
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 27 Dec 00 - 08:05 PM

Of course it's kind of Karie O to post those lyrics, but if she had taken the trouble to read a little of this (not very long or difficult) thread, she might have noticed that links have already been posted to several sets of words for this song, mostly more accurate than her half-remembered version.  I know that sounds unkind, but, after all, we do want to give people the information they have asked for, presumably, rather than just jumping in and adding our wee bit just for the sake of it?  Mind you, cujimmy has been around here long enough to have sorted out for him or her self how to use the not over-complicated search-engine that is such a useful (though rather under-used) feature of this site.

Malcolm (who answered the original question several days ago, and was hoping that this now-redundant thread would quietly die).

Subject: Song Name req; sung by Mary Black 'my yo
From: GUEST,Osmium
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 02:41 PM

I have an old cassette of Mary Black with no labels and would like to find chords for a song that includes the lines "my young son came home today, his friends marched with him all the way, the pipes and drums beat out the time, as in his box of polished pine he lay, like dead meat on a butchers tray" - any one know the name of the song please?

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: MY YOUNGEST SON CAME HOME TODAY
From: Sorcha
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 02:46 PM

Looks like Eric Bogle wrote it, title is MY YOUNGEST SON CAME HOME TODAY.

 Dm                     F      C
  My youngest son came home today
  Dm                            F        C
  His friends marched with him all the way.
  Dm                     C      F
  A fife and drum beat out the time.
  Dm                     C      F
  While in his box of polished pine,
  Dm      Am          Dm      Am
  Like dead meat on a butcher's tray,
  Dm                   C      Dm
  My youngest son came home today.

My youngest son was a fine young man,
With a wife, a daughter, and two sons.
As a man he would have lived and died,
Until by a bullet, sanctified.
Now he's a saint, or so they say,
They brought their young saint home today.

Above the narrow Belfast streets,
An Irish sky looks down and weeps
At children's blood in gutters spilled,
And dreams of glory unfulfilled.
As part of freedom's price to pay,
My youngest son came home today.

My youngest son came home today.
His friends marched with him all the way.
A fife and drum beat out the time.
While in his box of polished pine,
Like dead meat on a butcher's tray,
My youngest son came home today.

 Dm                   C       Dm
  And this time he's home...to stay.

Subject: RE: Song Name req; sung by Mary Black 'my yo
From: GUEST,Osmium
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 02:52 PM

Thanks a lot - thats the one

Subject: RE: Song Name req; sung by Mary Black 'my yo
From: Sorcha
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 02:52 PM

5 minutes...I'm slipping! LOL

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Youngest Son Came Home Today (E Bogle)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Apr 24 - 03:28 PM

Here's the Eric Bogle recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX2vZrcNp4c

Subject: RE: ADD: My Youngest Son Came Home Today (Eric Bogle)
From: GUEST,PHJim
Date: 26 Apr 24 - 10:03 AM

It reminds me of this song from Canadian singer/songwriter John Wort Hannam:

Infantryman   John Wort Hannam

[C] [Am] [Dm] [G] [C] [Am] [Dm] [G]
My [C] boy came home from the [Am] war today [Dm] I stood by as his [G] plane touched down
An [C] infantryman on [Am] foreign shores [Dm] Coming on back to [G] his hometown
And it's [F] been so [C] long [F] since he's been [C] gone, I [F] stand be[C]fore him now and gaze in disbe[Am]lief
My [F] boy came home from the [G] war today [F] Draped in the [G] Maple[C]leaf

My [C] boy came home from the [Am] war today with a [Dm] medal for valour in [G] combat
They [C] hoisted high on their [Am] shoulders and [Dm] everyman gathered there [G] clutched his hat
But no [F] fanfare [C] played and no [F] speeches were [C] made No [F] pretty young [C] maids waved a [Dm] handkerchief
My [F] boy came home from the [G] war today [F] Draped in the [G] Maple[C]leaf
[C] [Am] [Dm] [G] [C] [Am] [Dm] [G]

When my [F] boy came home from the [G] war today he was [F] draped in the [G] Maple[C]leaf
My [F] boy came home from the [G] war today, now my [F] heart is [G] filled with [C] grief
[C] [Am] [Dm] [G] [C] [Am] [Dm] [G] [C]

Infantryman - John Wort Hannam