I wrote me a letter to Syracuse, it was a letter full of lies
I told them that we were doing fine, very much to their surprise
For how are they to know that here the ground is soaked in red
Heard that we could fill the valley with our dead
I started out and told them that by Christmas we'd begin
To pack our bags and head on home to bring the new year in
While all around
To pack our bags and head on home to bring the new year in

My boys who have been sold last season's crop
Are charging out the cannons till they drop
I told my mother not to write, cause we're always moving on
I told my brother not to join, cause he'd only find
Some nick-off
What if we keep on much farther, retreating all the way
Oh, we'll all be going home just every day
Yes, I wrote me a letter to Syracuse, it was a letter full of lies
I told them that we were doing fine, very much to their surprise


Heard that we were doing fine, very much to their surprise
For how are they to know that here the ground is soaked in red
Heard that we could fill the valley with our dead
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