Текст песни The Iron Man (Tom Paxton) с переводом

The orders came, the midnight rain

Was driving down the window pane

They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle

Showed them green and new to battle

Out on the road, the mud knee-high

The tortured trucks were slithering by

Toward the ruptured, shattered sky

They strove. It hardly mattered why

We find our hero in the mud

We guess the fever in his blood

We try, as he, to laugh at this

The Iron Man whom bullets

He’s right, the song has just begun

We’d never kill a man so young

He’s right, the song has just begun

We’d never kill a man so young

The sergeant, how they loathed his guts

He led them down the waggon ruts

One truck is stalled, the drivers curse

It’s either ambulance or hearse

The air grows foul, the heavy stench

Is seeping from the ancient trench

He takes his place and laughs at this

The Iron Man whom bullets miss

He’s right, no matter how they try

The song’s too young for him to die

He’s right, no matter how they try

The song’s too young for him to die

The orders came, the midnight rain

Was driving down the window pane

They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle

Showed them green and new to battle

Winter came early to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow

The builders looked at its unfinished frame, then turned to go

A small foundation, a pile of sand, a rusty hammer in a cold, cold hand

It wasn’t a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came

hard

Winter was death to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow

Warped its timbers and cracked the foundations, then turned to go

The sketch was crumpled in a cold, cold hand. The hammer buried in the pile of

sand

The builders' thoughts were of virgin land when winter came early and winter

came hard

Spring was puzzled by the house on the hill, last patch of snow

Gave it flowers and climbing vines, then turned to go

Small boys played on the pile of sand, plastic weapons in their eager hands

It wasn’t a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came

hard

The young lieutenant, new to war

Is sick upon the trench’s floor

The sergeant, how they cursed his head

Is suddenly quite cold and dead

The deafening explosions cease

The calm a cruel burlesque of peace

The whistle blows, the charge is made

The Iron Man is unafraid

He’s right, he’s young and brave and strong

Just the kind to fill a song

He’s right, he’s young and brave and strong

Just the kind to fill a song

The orders came, the midnight rain

Was driving down the window pane

They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle

Showed them green and new to battle

Frost on the blankets of the strong boys' room

Heat for the sissies, for the prep-school pansies

Ice cold showers for the cool platoon

Once a month a card to mamma

Wipe that smile off and shine your brass

Grab your ankles and I’ll give you twenty

Drop that rifle and I’ll have your ass

Once a month a card to mamma

Play me the Taps, the quadrangle’s sleeping

Here in his rack my roommate is weeping

Someone is weeping. I’ll be all right

Goodnight. Goodnight

Town girls love it in the picture shows

Save the dances for the home-town ladies

Save five dollars for the one who knows

Once a month a card to mamma

Grab your ankles for the old cadets

Drop your trousers and you’ll get what’s coming

Is there more to this than you’re quite sure of?

Put it in a card to mamma

Play me the Taps, the quadrangle’s sleeping

Here in his rack my roommate is weeping

Someone is weeping. I’ll be all right

Goodnight, goodnight!

Play me the Taps, the quadrangle’s sleeping

The whistle blows. The charge is made

The Iron Man is unafraid

The young lieutenant screams out loud

The bullets hum like a startled crowd

The young lieutenant screams and falls

The Iron Man runs up the walls

And blows the enemy a kiss

The Iron Man whom bullets miss

He’s right, the man whom bullets miss

Is meant for something more than this

He’s right, the man whom bullets miss

Is meant for something more than this

The orders came, the midnight rain

Was driving down the window pane

They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle

Showed them green and new to battle

Angie, from where I stand

The water breaks on the spit of sand

How does it survive?

Angie, for all I know

The sand is tired and ready to go

It’s less than alive

But you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall

Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?

Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?

Angie, If Angie’s your name!

Angie, from where I stand

Your smile is so discretely planned

I’m not sure it’s there

Angie, for all I know

You’ll notice me, you’ll turn and go

You won’t even care

That’s you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the

Fall

Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?

Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?

Angie, If Angie’s your name!

Angie, I was getting along

Nothing quite right, but nothing too wrong

I didn’t know you existed

I ran my life like a safe machine

Lost myself in a safe routine

But now it’s all twisted

With my hand on the knife

For the rest of my life

Angie, from where I stand

You rise and wave an ungloved hand

You smile in the sun

Angie, you smile for him

He calls to you. The light is dim

You break into a run

And you’re gone. So ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in

the Fall

Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?

Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?

Angie, If Angie’s your name!

The battered fort is ours again

It only cost ten-thousand men

And when a young lieutenant dies

Some survivor has to rise

So like a humble prayer of thanks

The Iron Man goes up the ranks

The man whom bullets miss goes far

He wins a kiss and wears a star

And he’s right — a man who lives through that

Deserves a star upon his hat

He’s right — a man who lives through that

Deserves a star upon his hat

And now the nation cheers his name

The politicians play his game

He’s coaxed and shrewdly follows fate

Until he’s leader of the State

The peace grows dull, the pace too slow

At last he finds convenient foe

The Congress balks, the galleries hiss

The Iron Man whom bullets miss

But he’s right, the man whom bullets miss

Is meant for something more than this

He’s right, the Generals pat their guns

And Congress turns and Congress runs

He’s right, the nation shouts its thanks

The young men run to join the ranks

He’s right, his name is in their blood

While huddling in some foreign mud

The orders came, the midnight rain

Was driving down the window pane

They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle

Showed them green and new to battle

Play me the Taps, the quadrangle’s sleeping

Here in his rack my roommate is weeping

Someone is weeping, I’ll be all right

Goodnight, goodnight!