Nemo James

A Long long Way

Song Not Yet Released

Daylight tells me I’m still alive
Another long night I have survived
My clothes are wet, I’m chilled to the bone
My comrades my family, this trench my home

I’m a peaceful man, never wanted to fight
I never understood how it could be right
Then a young girl, the fairest in the land
Came to me with white feather in hand

Chorus
It’s a long, long way from my land
Trying hard to understand
What I am fighting for I don’t know
And why I go where I’m told to go

Day after day they kept telling me
I should go and fight for king and country
I listened to the choices they gave
I could be a coward, or I could be a slave

Now that young girl who I loved at first sight
No longer speaks to me, no longer writes
She sent me to fight for king and country
Then changed her mind, to set Ireland free

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG

Inspiration for this song came from the book by Sebastian Barry of the same name. One of the characters was shamed into volunteering to fight in the First World War after a beautiful young girl gave him a white feather. He marched out of Ireland a hero, when he returned, he was treated like a traitor