Young men, soldiers, Nineteen Fourteen
Marching through countries they'd never seen

Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
All for a Children's Crusade


Pawns in the game are not victims of chance
Strewn on the fields of Belgium and France
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade

All of those young lives betrayed

The children of England would never be slaves

They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation


Corpulent generals safe behind lines
History's lessons drowned in red wine

Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade


The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves

The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation


Midnight in Soho, Nineteen Eighty-four
Fixing in doorways, opium slaves
Poppies for young men, such bitter trade

All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade