[Verse 1]
             
King Henry mar

              
ched forth, a 

             
sword in his h


and,
             
Two thousand h

              
orsemen all at

        
 his command;
             
In a fortnight

            
 the rivers ra

  
n red through 

the land,
            
The year fifte

            
en hundred and

 
 twenty.

[Verse 2]
              
The year it is

              
 now nineteen 

      
sixty-five,
             
It's easier fa

              
r to stay half

  
-alive.
             
Just keep your

            
 mouth shut wh

        
ile the planes

 zoom and dive

,
            
Ten thousand m

            
iles over the 


ocean.

[Verse 3]
              
Simon was draf

             
ted in sixty-t


hree,
             
In sixty-four,

              
 sent over the

 
 sea.
             
Last month thi

          
s letter he se

nt to me,
            
He said, "You 

            
won't like wha

      
t I'm sayin'."

[Verse 4]
              
He said, "We'v

              
e no friends h

              
ere, no hardly

   
 a one,
             
We've got a fe

              
w generals who

              
 just want our

 
 guns.
             
But it'll take

            
 more than tha

           
t if we're eve

r to win;
            
Why, we'll hav

            
e to flatten t

   
he country."

[Verse 5]
              
"It's my own t

              
roops I have t

              
o watch out fo

       
r," he said,
             
"I sleep with 

              
a pistol right

          
 under my head

;"
             
He wrote this 

            
last month, la

   
st week he was

 dead,
            
And Simon came

         
 home in a cas

ket.

[Verse 6]
              
I mind my own 

              
business, I wa

       
tch my TV,
             
Complain about

              
 taxes but pay

    
 anyway.
             
In a civilized

            
 manner my for

 
efathers betra

y,
           
Who long ago s

            
truggled for f

reedom.

[Verse 7]
              
But each day a

              
 new headline 

              
screams at my 


bluff,
             
On TV some gen

              
eral says we m

       
ust be tough.
             
In my dreams I

            
 stare at this

 
 family I love

,
            
All gutted and

            
 spattered wit

  
h napalm.

[Verse 8]
             
King Henry mar

              
ched forth, a 

             
sword in his h


and,
             
Two thousand h

              
orsemen all at

        
 his command;
             
In a fortnight

            
 the rivers ra

  
n red through 

the land,
            
The year fifte

            
en hundred and

 
 twenty.

[Verse 9]
              
The year it is

              
 now nineteen 

      
sixty-five,
             
It's easier fa

              
r to stay half

  
 alive.
             
Just keep your

            
 mouth shut wh

        
ile the planes

 zoom and dive
            
Ten thousand m

              
iles over the 

 
ocean.

[Alternate verse 2/9:]
             
The year it is

              
 now much late

     
r it seems,
             
It's easier fa

              
r, in the land

        
 of our dreams

;
             
Just keep your

            
 mouth shut an

  
d don't hear t

he screams,
            
Ten thousand m

            
iles over the 


ocean.