By John McCutcheon
Winter Solstice (1984)
As interpreted by Joe G
Capo on 2
INTRO: D, G, A, D
My
name is [D/C#]Frances
Tolli[Bm/A]ver, I co
me from L[G/F#]iver-po
ol
Two
years ago the
war was
waiting
for me after
school
To
Belgium [D/C#]and to
Flande[Bm/A]rs, to
Germany[G/F#], to
here
I
fought for
King and
country
I love
dear
‘Twas
Christmas in the
trenche
s, where the
frost so bitter
hung
The
frozen fields of [Bm/A]France were still, no Ch
ristmas song was
sung
Our
families [D/C#]back in
England[Bm/A] were
toasting [G/F#]us that
day
Their
brave and glorious
lads so
far a-
way
I was
lying [D/C#]with my
messmate[Bm/A], on the
cold and [G/F#]rocky
ground
When a-
cross the lines of
battle
came a
most peculiar
sound
Says
I, now [D/C#]listen
up me boys[Bm/A], each
soldier s[G/F#]trained to
hear
As
one young German
voice sang
out so
clear
He’s
singing bloody
well you
know, my
partner says to
me
Soon
one by one each [Bm/A]German voice, joined
in in har-mo-n
y
The
cannons [D/C#]rested
silen[Bm/A]t, the
gas clouds [G/F#]rolled no
more
As
Christmas brought us
respite from
the
war
As
soon as [D/C#]they were
finishe[Bm/A]d, and a
reverent [G/F#]pause was
spent
God
Rest Ye Merry
Gentlem
en, struck
up some lads from
Kent
The
next they [D/C#]sang was “
Stille [Bm/A]Nacht”, ’tis “
Silent [G/F#]Night” says
I
And
in two
tongues, one
song filled
up that
sky
There’s
someone comin’
t’wards us
, the
frontline sentry
cried
All
sights were fixed on [Bm/A]one lone figure
trudging from their
side
His
truce flag [D/C#]like a
Christmas [Bm/A]star shone
on that [G/F#]plain so
bright
As he
bravely strode un-
armed in
to the
night
Then
one by [D/C#]one, on
either [Bm/A]side, walked
into [G/F#]No Man’s
Land
With
neither gun or
bayonet
, we
met there hand to
hand
We
shared some [D/C#]secret
bran[Bm/A]dy and
wished each [G/F#]other
well
And
in a flare-lit
soccer
game, we
gave ’em
hell
We
traded chocolates,
cigaret
tes and
photographs from
home
These
sons and fathers [Bm/A]far away from
families of their
own
Young
Sanders [D/C#]played his
squeezeb[Bm/A]ox and they
had a [G/F#]vi-o-
lin
This c
urious and un-
likely
band of
men
Soon
daylight [D/C#]stole u-
pon u[Bm/A]s, and
France was [G/F#]France once
more
With
sad farewells we
each be
gan to
settle back to
war
But the
question [D/C#]haunted
every [Bm/A]heart that
lived that [G/F#]wondrous
night
Whose
family have I
fixed with
in my
sights
‘Twas
Christmas in the
trenche
s where the
frost so bitter
hung
The
frozen fields of [Bm/A]France were warmed as
Christmas songs were
sung
For the
walls they [D/C#]kept be-
tween u[Bm/A]s to ex-
act the [G/F#]work of
war
Had been
crumbled and are
gone for
ever-
more
Oh my
name is [D/C#]Frances
Tolliv[Bm/A]er, in
Liver[G/F#]pool I
dwell
Each
Christmas come since
World W
ar One, I’ve
learned it’s lessons
well
That the
ones who [D/C#]call the
shots[Bm/A], won’t be a-
mong the [G/F#]dead and
lame
And on
each end of the
rifle, we'
re the
same