Radiohead put together a song in tribute to a recently deceased World War I veteran, Harry Patch. At 111 years old he was the last survivor to have fought in the trenches of that war. With his passing there are now only three verified living participants from WWI. You can hear the song at the BBC and buy it from Radiohead’s site. All of the proceeds go to the Royal British Legion. Unsurprisingly, the song is fairly somber but with hints of hope and optimism. After all, for as hellish as the war was, Patch managed to live another 90 years and spoke of how insane that fact was.
The lyrics follow, which are all quotes from Patch himself:
I am the only one that got through
The others died where ever they fell
It was an ambush
They came up from all sides
Give your leaders each a gun and then let them fight it out themselves
I’ve seen devils coming up from the ground
I’ve seen hell upon this earth
The next will be chemical but they will never learn
