Each year for the past 5 years now I have taken part in the Warrandyte RSL Anzac Day Memorial Service. In past years I have sung Eric Bogle's And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda (on two occasions) and Flanders Field (sometimes known as Willie McBride), and I was only 19.
This year, at the suggestion of my old school friend, John Byrne - who each year presents the Anzac Day address - and Robin Batty, an RSL member and organiser of the annual event, I sang A Pittance of Time.
The original song, Pittance of Time, was written by the Canadian folk singer Terry Kelly. A video of Kelly singing the song can be found on the Internet at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlrrAWCTRg
I liked the tune, and some of the lyrics of the original; however Kelly's song is very closely tied to its accompanying video. Indeed, in my view, the lyrics only make sense if heard in the context of the video. The clip is set in a supermarket; shoppers are asked over the PA to observe two minutes of silence in respect for veterans who died in wars. One shopper ignores the request for silence, and becomes angry and impatient that he is not being served.
Kelly's original, while powerfully evoking the importance of showing respect to 'vets', tended to focus too much on Kelly's anger at the disrespectful attitude of this shopper
I decided to work on the song and give it an Australian flavour, and to shift its focus to include not only the soldiers who fought and died, but also recognised the suffering of POWs, of nurses who cared for the wounded, and those 'at home' whose lives were shattered by the loss of loved ones.
They fought and some died for their homeland
For this land that we’re proud to call “our land”
For a century and more they have marched off to war
We must never forget what it was they fought for
Take two minutes, would you mind? It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest, may we never forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.
On Gallipoli’s shores they were slaughtered
In that “war to end wars” they were butchered
In the trenches of France, in the fields of Vietnam
Even now in Iraq and in Afghanistan
They were there when the bombs rained on Darwin
On the Kakoda Trail you would find them
Drenched in sweat , blood and fear, for year after year
And the thunder of guns was all they could hear
So two minutes we’ll find. It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
For those lives that were lost For that terrible cost
For so many who died Take a pittance of time
In the prison at Changi they languished
Starved and beaten, their spirits unvanquished
They were barely alive but some somehow survived
Though they still wake at night with a shrill anguished cry
Our Gallipoli diggers - they’re all gone now
And our Vietnam vets – they grow old now
But each year on this day we gather to say
Our thanks for the price they were willing to pay
Surely we can all find two minutes of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest, lest we forget why they died
Take a pittance of time
The Rats of Tobruk forged their legend
The boys of Vung Tau stand proud with them
As we gather today – let’s recall, you and me
Sacrifices they made so that we could be free
It takes courage to fight on the front line
And to care for the wounded behind the lines
The young girls who nursed saw the best and the worst
Those whose spirits were crushed, those who grumbled and cursed
So two minutes we’ll bide, it's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who go over.
In peace time our best still don battle dress -
Lay their lives on the line - take a pittance of time.
There were mothers and sweethearts who waited
Fathers, brothers and sisters who waited
There were tears that were cried for those young men who died
Who never again would sit close by their side
Just a letter arrived with black edging
‘With regret’ and ‘He’s missing in action’
They waited in vain, with their tears and their pain
For their loved ones they knew that they’d not see again
Take two minutes, would you mind? It's a pittance of time,
For those men and those women all over
There’s a price to be paid if you go if you stay
There are lives on the line, take a pittance of time.
So two minutes we’ll find It's a pittance of time,
For those men and those women all over
From those terrible wars they still bear the scars
At the end of the line, take a pittance of time.
From those terrible wars we all bear the scars
At the end of the line, take a pittance of time.
This year, at the suggestion of my old school friend, John Byrne - who each year presents the Anzac Day address - and Robin Batty, an RSL member and organiser of the annual event, I sang A Pittance of Time.
The original song, Pittance of Time, was written by the Canadian folk singer Terry Kelly. A video of Kelly singing the song can be found on the Internet at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlrrAWCTRg
I liked the tune, and some of the lyrics of the original; however Kelly's song is very closely tied to its accompanying video. Indeed, in my view, the lyrics only make sense if heard in the context of the video. The clip is set in a supermarket; shoppers are asked over the PA to observe two minutes of silence in respect for veterans who died in wars. One shopper ignores the request for silence, and becomes angry and impatient that he is not being served.
Kelly's original, while powerfully evoking the importance of showing respect to 'vets', tended to focus too much on Kelly's anger at the disrespectful attitude of this shopper
I decided to work on the song and give it an Australian flavour, and to shift its focus to include not only the soldiers who fought and died, but also recognised the suffering of POWs, of nurses who cared for the wounded, and those 'at home' whose lives were shattered by the loss of loved ones.
They fought and some died for their homeland
For this land that we’re proud to call “our land”
For a century and more they have marched off to war
We must never forget what it was they fought for
Take two minutes, would you mind? It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest, may we never forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.
On Gallipoli’s shores they were slaughtered
In that “war to end wars” they were butchered
In the trenches of France, in the fields of Vietnam
Even now in Iraq and in Afghanistan
They were there when the bombs rained on Darwin
On the Kakoda Trail you would find them
Drenched in sweat , blood and fear, for year after year
And the thunder of guns was all they could hear
So two minutes we’ll find. It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
For those lives that were lost For that terrible cost
For so many who died Take a pittance of time
In the prison at Changi they languished
Starved and beaten, their spirits unvanquished
They were barely alive but some somehow survived
Though they still wake at night with a shrill anguished cry
Our Gallipoli diggers - they’re all gone now
And our Vietnam vets – they grow old now
But each year on this day we gather to say
Our thanks for the price they were willing to pay
Surely we can all find two minutes of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest, lest we forget why they died
Take a pittance of time
The Rats of Tobruk forged their legend
The boys of Vung Tau stand proud with them
As we gather today – let’s recall, you and me
Sacrifices they made so that we could be free
It takes courage to fight on the front line
And to care for the wounded behind the lines
The young girls who nursed saw the best and the worst
Those whose spirits were crushed, those who grumbled and cursed
So two minutes we’ll bide, it's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who go over.
In peace time our best still don battle dress -
Lay their lives on the line - take a pittance of time.
There were mothers and sweethearts who waited
Fathers, brothers and sisters who waited
There were tears that were cried for those young men who died
Who never again would sit close by their side
Just a letter arrived with black edging
‘With regret’ and ‘He’s missing in action’
They waited in vain, with their tears and their pain
For their loved ones they knew that they’d not see again
Take two minutes, would you mind? It's a pittance of time,
For those men and those women all over
There’s a price to be paid if you go if you stay
There are lives on the line, take a pittance of time.
So two minutes we’ll find It's a pittance of time,
For those men and those women all over
From those terrible wars they still bear the scars
At the end of the line, take a pittance of time.
From those terrible wars we all bear the scars
At the end of the line, take a pittance of time.
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