Jan72019

Mandolin Monday – Green Fields Of France Piano, Guitar & Ukulele Chord Progression and Tab

ChordsBm A E

KeyKeyCapo

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This is the chord progression of Green Fields Of France by Mandolin Monday on Piano, Ukulele, Guitar and Keyboard.

[Intro]
Bm A E (x2)

[Verse 1]
Bm A
Well how do you do, young Willy McBride?
E Bm
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
Bm A
And rest for a while ‘neath the warm summer sun
E Bm
I’ve been walking all day, and I’m nearly done
Bm A
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
E Bm
When you joined the great fallen in nineteen-sixteen
Bm
I hope you died well
A
And I hope you died clean
E
Or young Willy McBride, what is it ?

[Chorus]
Bm
Did they beat the drums slowly?
A
Did they play the fife lowly?
E Bm
Did the rifles fire over as they lowered you down?
A
Did the bugles sound out the Last Post in chorus?
E Bm
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

[Interlude]
Bm A E [x2]

[Verse 2]
Bm A
Did you leave here a wife or a sweetheart behind?
E Bm
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
Bm A
Although you died back in nineteen-sixteen
E Bm
In that faithful heart, are you forever nineteen?
A
Or are you a stranger without even a name
E Bm
Enclosed then forever behind a glass pane
Bm A
In an old photograph torn, battered, and stained
E Bm
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame?

[Verse 3]
Bm A
The sun now shines o’er the green fields of France
E Bm
There’s a warm summer breeze that makes the red poppies dance
A
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds
E Bm
There’s no gas, no barbed wire, there’s no gun firing now
A
But here in this graveyard it’s still No Man’s Land
E Bm
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
A
To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man
E
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned

[Verse 4]
Bm A
Now young Willy McBride, I can’t help wonder, why?
E Bm
Do those that lie here know why they died?
Bm A
And did they believe when they answered the call?
E Bm
Did they really believe that this war would end wars?
Bm A
For the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the shame
E Bm
The killing and dying were all done in vain
Bm A
For young Willy McBride it all happened again
E
And again, and again, and again

How to play Green Fields Of France: key, chords and progression

Green Fields Of France by Mandolin Monday is in the key of A major (three sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯). The song uses 3 chords: Bm, A and E.

Most of the song cycles through Bm – A – E – Bm (ii – I – V – ii in A major). In solfa, that is reh – doh – soh – reh. Get these 4 changes smooth and the rest comes quickly.

Easier on guitar: put a capo on the 2nd fret and play the shapes Am, G, D (100% of the chords become easy open shapes, against 67% without a capo). It sounds exactly the same.