Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman Lyrics

Walking through the city after recent rainHeard ancient stones all shining murmur where are they?How long before next hero's dayAnd the splendid show of drum and gunWalking by the river one September eveSaw questions rise in circles on that old dark streamWhere now are those who dared to dreamThey would leave one jewel in England's handGone to sleep they lie in flowered gravesFor the visitors and Guidebook savedBut come the trumpet shattered dawnWill the spirit they shared be rebornComrades in arms, may they rise, fight and shine again,Till "who goes there", will be answered with friend againOnce there stood a man, alone, sword in his handIn the face of the teeth and flameAnd it was all in England's nameI was told how she grew, she alone shone her light on everyoneAnd if you made the first eleven then you'd be sure to get to heaven,Like the captain of the schoolI was taught how to winAnd to lose with that "get you next time" smile,Learned Latin verbs in fear of a beatingAnd for years thought central heating,Was for just old people's homesI was raised on the past, the Tower and Saint Paul's and WestminsterEscorted well-bred girls to dances, and learned to drive a horse in harness,Through the English countrysideI was taught to behave, like an officer and a gentleman,And when I finally marched from SandhurstI learned to put my fellow man firstAnd there was daily talk of warI spent 1938 in the United States of America,I grew to love it's many faces, and they had built some amazing places,And I thought they´d come in on our side