Tip top

Tip top, tally ho!
Off to war, off we go.
Drunken nights, off to fight,
Off to war we go!
Recruitment school, train as tools.
God help us, killing machines!
Before shipping us, off we go.
To do some damned dirty deed!

Tip top, tally ho!
Over the top, over we go!
Ten dead on the ship,
Real morale, as we reach the lines,
Rummed up and strung out.
For the trench we give our lies.
Tip top, tally ho!
Over the top we go!
A thousand dead, for one small hill,
Too many casualties, too big a bill.
Making us fight, all against our will!
Tip top, tally ho!
Over the top, we go!

This is war; there is no romance, no love.
No Montague’s or, Capulets.
There is but, the shells a thundering,
As the rats they do their plundering.
Bringing us closer to the thrill,
As the whistle trills to get us to kill!

Tip top, tally ho.
Off to the morgue, off they go!
So many dead, so many wounded,
Yet all this did was buy us yards.
We try to write our letters, they censor they snip,
Till all we have left, is a simple quip.
We're not allowed to talk of horror,
Or of the suicide missions we run.
We're not allowed to talk of death,
Or how many have fallen to the gun.
Morale is at a low, as we brace for the biggest fight.
And many men prayer, that this may be their last night.
Tip top, tally ho!
Over the top, over we go!

Tip top, tally ho!
Shot in the leg, now off I go!
Shot in the leg, wounded like the nation's pride,
There is nothing to say, I am but a shame to my bride.
When I return home, I shall tell of the horrors of what I've seen,
I'll tell of the thing, that never should have been.
I'll wage a war, on the war, and when they think it's done,
I'll tell the world of the terrors, and then we'll see the war pigs run!
Tip top, tally ho!
Off to war, off I go!