How did courage always keep you on the run

Carrying that Red Cross in the Italian sun?

To get the rush danger brings

You’d meet bulls and freaks inside the rings

It’s cut to the bone, jump into the blast

But first, one must last, one must last

There were two trains coming

To where hope meets its second chance

One could easily take you home

The other was bound for France

You smiled bravely to waiting soldiers

They knew which one you’d ride

They were merely lost boys at your side

At Sylvie’s table at rue de l’Odeon

You read simple praise for comrades gone

Il faut d’abord durer

Everyone was a man that day

No matter how your fate gets cast

First, one must last, one must last

Then there were two trains coming

Rolling for the women and the pain

One blew the whistle ‘cos the hour got late

Another track was announced for Spain

You drank slowly though the closing sign was broken

Peasants fought to be your guide

Women danced, capturing you with their faces, they left your hands untied

You wrote a chilly ending no one could have known

Doctor’s son saves all lives but his own

What did you see so strange

When you stared out at that purple western range?

Grace under pressure unsurpassed

Surely you’d stand fast, you’d stand fast

Then there were two trains coming

So little time to pack

One could no longer take you home

The other wasn’t coming back

They were shocked at what this life could do

With all the battles you’d survived

They were merely lost boys at your side