Lyrics

Benny Brown
By Terry Penney
©2009

I was just passing through that town one afternoon
When I saw him smiling at me from the road
A picture on a stone in a graveyard overgrown
The name as I looked down was Benny Brown

Ninety years ago he set out from the coast
Off to fight the war to end all wars
How his Momma must have cried saying farewell to her child
As she wrapped her arms around Benny Brown

Oh, Benny Brown came from a little town
Left cattlefield for battlefield to go fight for the crown
He was just twenty-one at the Battle of the Somme
When the Germans cut him down, Benny Brown

Well, they gathered at the front in the early morning sun
A regiment made up of island boys
Standing hip to hip, every bayonet was fixed
As they waited for the dreaded whistle’s noise

They went over the top, under the Jack
Knowing bloody well that they might never make it back
And it was long before my time, still, I’m overcome with pride
How could they lay their young lives down

Oh, Benny Brown came from a little town
Left cattlefield for battlefield to go fight for the crown
He was just twenty-one at the Battle of the Somme
When the Germans cut him down, Benny Brown