Mothers, Daughters, Wives

The first time it was fathers, the last time it was sons And in between, your husbands marched away with drums and guns And you never thought to question, you just went on with your lives 'Cause all they taught you who to be, was mothers, daughters, wives You can only just remember the tears your mother shed As she sat and read their papers through the lists and lists of dead And the gold frame held the photograph that mother kissed each night And the doorframe held the shocked and silent stranger from the fight The first time it was fathers, the last time it was sons And in between, your husbands marched away with drums and guns And you never thought to question, you just went on with your lives 'Cause all they taught you who to be, was mothers, daughters, wives It was twenty-one years later with children of your own The trumpets sounded once again and the soldier boys were gone So you made their guns and drove Their trucks and tended to their wounds And at night you kissed the photograph and hoped for safe return And after it was over, you had to learn again To be just wives and mothers when you'd done the work of men So you worked to help the needy and you never trod on toes And the photos on the mantelpiece struck a happy family pose The first time it was fathers, the last time it was sons And in between, your husbands marched away with drums and guns And you never thought to question, you just went on with your lives 'Cause all they taught you who to be, was mothers, daughters, wives And your daughters grew to women and your little boys to men And you prayed that you were dreaming when the call-up came again But you bravely smiled and held Your tears as they proudly waved goodbye And the photos on the mantelpiece, they always made you cry And now you're getting older and in time the photos fade And in widowhood you sit back and reflect on the parade Of the passing of your memories, How your daughters changed their lives Seeing more to their existences than mothers, daughters, wives The first time it was fathers, the last time it was sons And in between, your husbands marched away with drums and guns And you never thought to question, you just went on with your lives 'Cause all they taught you who to be, was mothers, daughters, wives And you believed them when they said You were just mothers, daughters, wives