Flowers Of The Town - The Unthanks

I’ve heard them lilting at loom and at belting

Lasses lilting before dawn of day

But now they are silent not gamesome nor gallant

The flowers of the town they are all turned away

There was laughter and loving in the lanes of an evening

Handsome were the boys and the girls they were gay

But lost in Flanders by medalled commanders

The flowers of the town they are all turned away

Cursed be the promise that took our men from us

All will be champion if you choose to obey

They fought against hunger, now no longer

The pride of the man lies as cold as the clay

All the women are weary, they’ve lilted so merry

Waiting to marry for a year and a day

From owning and earning, from wooing and winning

The flowers of the town they are all turned away

All turned away