Soldier:
Heart-carved tree trunk, Yankee bayonet
A sweetheart left behind
Girl:
Far from the hills of the sea-swaled Carolinas
That's where my true love lies
Ah ah ah...
Soldier:
Look for me when the sun-bright swallow
Sings upon the birch bough high
Girl:
But you are in the ground with the wolves and the weevils
All a-chew on your bones so dry
Ah ah ah...
Both:
But when the sun breaks
To no more bullets in Battle Creek
Then will you make a grave
For I will be home then I will be home then
I will be home then, I will be home then, then
Girl:
When I was a girl how the hills of Oconee
Made a seam to hem me in
Soldier:
There at the fair, when our eyes caught, careless,
Got my heart right pierced by a pin
Ah ah ah...
Soldier:
But oh, did you see all the dead of Manassas
All the bellies and the bones and the bile?
Girl:
No, I lingered here with the blankets barren
And my own belly big with child
Ah ah ah...
Both:
But when the sun breaks
To no more bullets in Battle Creek
Then will you make a grave
For I will be home then I will be home then
I will be home then, I will be home then
Soldier:
Stems and bones and stone walls too
Both:
Could keep me from you
Soldier:
This skein and skin is all too few
Both:
To keep me from you
Both:
But oh my love, though our bodies may be parted
Though our skin may not touch skin
Look for me with the sun-bright sparrow
I will come on the breath of the wind
Ah ah ah...
Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) Lyrics performed by The Decemberists are property and copyright of the authors, artists and labels. You should note that Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) Lyrics performed by The Decemberists is only provided for educational purposes only and if you like the song you should buy the CD