I never saw a sight so strange as softly spoken Bill
Fix his bayonet, grit his teeth, go charging up the hill
Machine gun nests are hateful things, spitting swarms of metal grit
Metal grit that pierces skin, taking out those who're hit
They took out a poor young boy near softly spoken Bill
Who one moment was laughing gay, the next, machine gun kill
I never saw a sight so strange
As softly spoken Bill
Fix his bayonet, grit his teeth
Go charging up the hill
So off charged Bill, his eyes ablaze, caring not for spitting nests
Caring even less for the CO's cry of "Who’s that foolish pest?"
Bill ducked the stinging torrent, Bill swerved the bursts of fire
Bill leapt across the barricade after slicing through their wire
"Follow that man!" cried the CO, "Back him to the hilt!"
Thinking the whole of the law shall be 'Do what thou shall wilt'.
I never saw a sight so strange
As softly spoken Bill
Fix his bayonet, grit his teeth
Go charging up the hill
We ran in haste across the mud, we ran up that thar hill
But what we saw stopped us dead and made our blood run chill
For Bill had found the enemy waving hastily-made white flags
So he'd scalped them with his bayonet and put their hair in bags
"Stop that man!" cried out the CO, his lip curling with disdain
So Bill was softly sent back home and never seen again
Oh, I never saw a sight so strange
As softly spoken Bill
Fix his bayonet, grit his teeth
Go charging up the hill
Fix his bayonet, grit his teeth, go charging up the hill
Machine gun nests are hateful things, spitting swarms of metal grit
Metal grit that pierces skin, taking out those who're hit
They took out a poor young boy near softly spoken Bill
Who one moment was laughing gay, the next, machine gun kill
I never saw a sight so strange
As softly spoken Bill
Fix his bayonet, grit his teeth
Go charging up the hill
So off charged Bill, his eyes ablaze, caring not for spitting nests
Caring even less for the CO's cry of "Who’s that foolish pest?"
Bill ducked the stinging torrent, Bill swerved the bursts of fire
Bill leapt across the barricade after slicing through their wire
"Follow that man!" cried the CO, "Back him to the hilt!"
Thinking the whole of the law shall be 'Do what thou shall wilt'.
I never saw a sight so strange
As softly spoken Bill
Fix his bayonet, grit his teeth
Go charging up the hill
We ran in haste across the mud, we ran up that thar hill
But what we saw stopped us dead and made our blood run chill
For Bill had found the enemy waving hastily-made white flags
So he'd scalped them with his bayonet and put their hair in bags
"Stop that man!" cried out the CO, his lip curling with disdain
So Bill was softly sent back home and never seen again
Oh, I never saw a sight so strange
As softly spoken Bill
Fix his bayonet, grit his teeth
Go charging up the hill
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