The Price of a Mile

“Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight." Hear the sound of a machinegun Hear it echo in the night Mortars firing rains the scene Scars the fields that once were green It's a stalemate at the frontline Where the soldiers rest in mud Roads and houses all is gone There's no glory to be won Know that many men will suffer Know that many men will die Half a million lives at stake At the fields of Passchendaele And as the the night falls the general calls And the battle carries on and on What is the purpose of it all? What's the price of a mile? Thousands of feet march to the beat It's an army on the march Long way from home Paying the price in young men's lives Thousands of feet march to the beat It's an army in despair Knee deep in mud Stuck in a trench with no way out Thousand of machineguns Kept on firing through the night Mortars blazed and wrecked the scene Gone is the fields that once were green Still a deadlock at the frontline Where the soldiers die in mud Roads and houses since long gone Still no glory has been won Know that many men has suffered Know that many men has died 6 miles of ground has been won Half a million men are gone And as the men crawled the general called And the killing carried on and on What was the purpose of it all? What's the price of a mile? Thousands of feet march to the beat It's an army on the march Long way from home Paying the price in young men's lives Thousands of feet march to the beat It's an army in despair Knee deep in mud Stuck in a trench with no way out Young men are dying They pay the price Oh how they suffer So tell me what's the price of a mile There's no price for a mile Thousands of feet march to the beat It's an army on the march Long way from home Paying the price in young men's lives Thousands of feet march to the beat It's an army in despair Knee deep in mud Stuck in a trench with no way out