Next in a week of songs dedicated to the First World War Armistice centenary, a deeply sad and vivid song by Ray Davies about the fleeting life of a young soldier killed in 1916. It comes from the 1969 album, Arthur. The full album title is, appropriately enough Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), a concept work to accompany a Granada television TV play that was never made. Arthur is a character who lives in a British suburb, and in classic Davies style, this harks vividly back to memory his brother suddenly killed on the French battlefields. Slow but remorseless in pace, it is sung with a dry, melancholy delivery, highlighting the anonymity of one death, but the intense, private suffering of his mother.
Some mother's son lies in a field
Someone has killed some mother's son today
Head blown up by some soldier's gun
While all the mothers stand and wait
Some mother's son ain't coming home today
Some mothers son ain't got no grave
Two soldiers fighting in a trench
One soldier glances up to see the sun
And dreams of games he played when he was young
And then his friend calls out his name
It stops his dream and as he turns his head
A second later he is dead
Some mother's son lies in a field
Back home they put his picture in a frame
But all dead soldiers look the same
While all the parents stand and wait
To meet their children coming home from school
Some mother's son is lying dead
Somewhere someone is crying
Someone is trying to be so brave
But still the world keeps turning
Though all the children have gone away
Some mother's son lies in a field
But in his mother's eyes he looks the same
As on the day he went away
They put his picture on the wall
They put flowers in the picture frame
Some mother’s memory remains
Want to suggest songs for Song of the Day or to say anything about it? Does this song make you think of something else? Then feel free to comment below, on the contact page, or on social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube. Please subscribe, follow and share.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...