No Parade

Came down the coast road at first light
Boots still heavy with the field
Expected banners, got a bus stop
And a shopfront with the shutters sealed

The ones who cheered me out in spring
Have kids now, jobs, a different war
They ask me how it was and then
They check the clock before I'm done

I don't want the flowers
I don't want the noise
I just want somebody to say the names out loud

No parade (gan fáilte)
No welcome, no way home
No parade (gan fáilte)
I won the thing and won it alone

I brought them back in a list
Twelve names and a folded flag
Somebody put it in a drawer
(Ár, ár, ár)

No parade (gan fáilte)
Say the names, say them slow
No parade (gan fáilte)
I came back, they didn't, I know