Her letters gave me purpose,

Her letters gave me pride

Armies far across the ocean

Guns and letters by our side

It was someone else's homeland

It was someone else's war

But at the line of the 38th parallel

It was her I fought them for

Her victory garden grew from weeds and from stone

I smelled those flowers in my sleep

The day I left as we were standing alone

She swore to me those dreams would keep

And the bells of St. James were ringing

The bells of St. James were ringing down

Lifting the eyes of those homeward bound

I don't remember when those words changed

Like Kansas summer turns to fall

But she quit talking 'bout the future

Never mentioned dreams at all

I don't blame my enemies and I don't blame my wife

For love fires that fleeted long ago

But when she wrote me about this change in her life

There was just one thing I had to know

And the bells of St. James were ringing

The bells of St. James were ringing down

Lifting the eyes of those homeward bound