Primal - Dan Bull

It began

The same way

It ended

Let me set the scene, war is a hellish thing

Hellish as it’s ever been, redefine what hellish means

It’s Evergreen seeing men killing their fellow beings

Unheavenly screams pierced by deafening machines

Sacrificing actual lives and recompensed in pennies each

Said will this deceptive quest for peace never cease?

Did you ever see a friend in need flee in terror, he

Ebbed and weaved between threats and pleas, a wretch indeed

Wet feet drenched deep in the trench’s heat, each

Feverish skeleton trembling and clenching teeth

Tell me when the death of a wretch was the centrepiece

He’s just another leg wrenched from the centipede

A stampede, a legion proceeding when decreed

Chevaliers, regulars, levied men of every creed

Naïve men of seventeen, each a bel esprit

They’ve had their last meal, their blood’s an aperitif

A fellow dead at the speed at which he fell off his steed

Leaving yet another friend or family member to grieve

Pawns on a board where death is the referee

A living chess piece that’ll never get to Queen

There’s an enemy for every devotee of the regime

For whom doing the obscene extreme is routine

To then ascend the pecking order ‘til you get to chief

Reset the record to the Pleistocene

Beads of sweat, heaving chest, don’t forget to breathe

It seems to be progressive leads to being regressive beasts

The quest to be a better being fettered by aggressive greed

Tens of tens of centuries of horrendous deadly deeds

A veteran can never rest in peace

He’s a revenant, a lesson destined to repeat

He’s a revenant, a lesson destined to repeat

A veteran can never rest in peace

Tens of tens of centuries of horrendous deadly deeds

The quest to be a better being fettered by aggressive greed

It seems to be progressive leads to being regressive beasts

Beads of sweat, heaving chest, don’t forget to breathe

Reset the record to the Pleistocene

To then ascend the pecking order ‘til you get to chief

For whom doing the obscene extreme is routine

There’s an enemy for every devotee of the regime

A living chess piece that’ll never get to Queen

Pawns on a board where death is the referee

Leaving yet another friend or family member to grieve

A fellow dead at the speed at which he fell off his steed

They’ve had their last meal, their blood’s an aperitif

Naïve men of seventeen, each a bel esprit

Chevaliers, regulars, levied men of every creed

A stampede, a legion proceeding when decreed

He’s just another leg wrenched from the centipede

Tell me when the death of a wretch was the centrepiece

Feverish skeleton trembling and clenching teeth

Wet feet drenched deep in the trench’s heat, each

Ebbed and weaved between threats and pleas, a wretch indeed

Did you ever see a friend in need flee in terror, he

Said will this deceptive quest for peace never cease?

Sacrificing actual lives and recompensed in pennies each

Unheavenly screams pierced by deafening machines

It’s Evergreen seeing men killing their fellow beings

Hellish as it’s ever been, redefine what hellish means

Let me set the scene, war is a hellish thing

It ended

The same way

It began