It was the day that war broke out
Everyone seemed excited
While young men boasted
And talked of great times
Dark clouds gathered
On the Maginot line
Sisters and fathers
Mothers and sons
All said goodbye
It seemed so much fun
We'll be finished by Christmas
Back home by the fire
Perish the distance
The bombs and the wire
Don't wake the lion
Don't wake the lion
Don't wake the lion
There's a firework show tonight
Everyone's been invited
There's mud on faces
With frightened white eyes
And some won't make it
Through the thunderous noise
Powerful and angry
Answer the guns
All through the night
Relief never comes
It's a criminal deception
Sets man against man
Indicting reflection
A devious plan
Don't wake the lion
Don't wake the lion
Don't wake the lion
Father, don't you leave me
Mother, don't go
Can't live without you
No, don't go, don't go
Hear what they're saying
Come the freeze
You'd better hold on tight
And while you're praying
On your knees
Prepare to stand and fight
Someone keeps saying
It's written in a book
So keep yourself in line
But you're betraying
With every nervous look
That now it's killing time
And from the morning till the night
We try
They said it all would turn out right
But they lied
Yes, they lied
Too old to die young
Too big to cry
Too old to die young
To say goodbye
Too old to die young
Too big to cry, mama
Too old to die young
To say goodbye
Above the raging
Evening sky
Will never be the same
While necks are straining
Those hidden eyes
Shoot out another flame
And from the morning till the night
We try
They said it all would turn out right
But they lied
Yes, they lied, lied
Too old to die young
Too big to cry
Too old to die young
To say goodbye
Too old to die young
Too big to cry, mama
Too old to die young
To say goodbye
No, don't you ever
Never, never
Never, never
Don't you
Don't you
Don't you ever never, never go
While the angels sleep tonight
Some of us will be hoping
That someone understands
Who started this fight
Thrown down on foreign shores
So far out of sight
Don't wake the lion, no
Don't wake the lion
It was the day that war broke out
Everyone seemed excited
While young men boasted
And talked of great times
Dark clouds gathered
It was a change for all time
Sisters and fathers
Mothers and sons
All said goodbye
It seemed so much fun
We'll be finished by Christmas
Back home by the fire
Perish the distance
The bombs and the wire
Don't wake the lion
No, no, no, don't wake the lion
Don't wake the lion
No, don't you wake the lion