1915 on Christmas Day
On the western front the guns all died away
And lying in the mud on bags of sand
We heard a German sing from no man's land
He had tenor voice so pure and true
The words were strange but every note we knew
Soaring o'er the living dead and damned
A German sang of peace from no man's land
They left their trenches and we left ours
Beneath tin hats the smiles bloomed like wild flowers
With photos cigarettes and pots of wine
We built a soldier's truce on the front line
Their singer was a lad of 21
We begged another song before the dawn
And sitting in the mud and blood and fear
He sang again the song all longed to hear
Silent night, no cannons roar
A King is born of peace for evermore
All's calm, all's bright
All brothers hand in hand
In 19 and 15 in no man's land
And in the morning all the guns boomed in the rain
And we killed them and they killed us again
At night they charged - we fought them hand to hand
And I killed the boy that sang in no man's land
Silent night, no cannons roar
A King is born of peace for evermore
All's calm, all's bright
All brothers hand in hand
And that young soldier sings
And the song of peace still rings
Though the captains and all the kings
Built no man's land
Sleep in heavenly peace.
