Dougie Maclean
Guillotine’s Release
These are fine words you're saying
I know you mean them well
This game of life we're playing
Is half in heaven half in hell
And your ideals are to be envied
Like some little child's dream
They crash around my aching head
Like rocks tumbling down a stream
You're the soldier of freedom
And you're the fighter for peace
But you'd put the gun into my hand
And signal up the guillotine's release
There's been a million years of troubles
And there'll be a million more
And a million years of history
Well, you just cannot ignore
And I wish I had your confidence
In our own sweet human kind
But your words are just the ashes
Of what all the others left behind
You're the soldier of freedom
And you're the fighter for peace
But you'd put the gun into my hand
And signal up the guillotine's release
So you can sing to me of bravery
Sacrifice and pain
And you know I'll listen carefully
'Cause my heart feels just the same
But your way it's like the trundle
Of a worn and wooden wheel
And your words are made from speeches
Your own innocence conceals
You're the soldier of freedom
And you're the fighter for peace
But you'd put the gun into my hand
And signal up the guillotine's release
So you can say I'm tired
You can say I am no use
You can say my courage fails me
But that's only half the truth
It's love we all are needing
We've been fighting for too long
Now I'll lay down my weary pen
And I will kindly move along
You're the soldier of freedom
And you're the fighter for peace
But you'd put the gun into my hand
And signal up the guillotine's release