1
"Did you ever go over the top?" he said,
"Did you ever go over the top?
Did you sweep along an unbroken line,
With bayonets gleaming, and eyes ashine
And a feeling that went to your head like wine,
The time you went over the top?"
2
"Did you ever go over the top?" he said,
"Did you ever go over the top?
Did the flarelights shine on a glorious sight
As they pierced the dawn in the changing light;
Did you thrill with a feeling of savage delight,
The time you went over the top?"
3
"Did you ever go over the top?" he said,
"Did you ever go over the top?
Oh, tell me" he said "how you held up your head
Of the things that you thought and the things that you said,
Of your glorious pride as with the men you sped
Far away over the top."
4
"Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said,
"You bet I've been over the top.
But I felt alone in the flare-lights glare.
And Mauser bullets were singeing my hair,
And my knees were knocking together for fair,
The night I went over the top."
5
"Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said,
"You bet I've been over the top.
But it's lonesome out there in no man's land
And you miss the crowd and you miss the band
And your feet take root in the place you stand,
The night you go over the top."
6
"Oh yes, I've been over the top
There was yards of wire got attached to my clothes
And how I got out of it God only knows
A secret I fear he will never disclose
Till I'm finally "over the top."
7
"Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said,
"You bet I've been over the top.
The artillery raised a continuous roar--
They'd been at it, it seemed for a week or more--
And old man I was sweating at every pore
The night I went over the top."
8
"Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said,
"You bet I've been over the top.
The noise and confusion, the shouts and the groans
Had paralysed action and frozen my bones
When a fellow went past me,--I think it was Jones,
He was headed back over the top."
9
"Oh yes, I've been over the top," I said,
You bet I've been over the top
And since Jones has a blighty and wasn't napoo,
If they're handing them out
"I thought" me for one too.
And blest if I didn't--in fact I got two,
The night I went over the top.