The Iron Man Lyrics

Song	The Iron Man
Artist	Tom Paxton
Album	Things I Notice Now
Download	Image LRC TXT

	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Out on the road, the mud knee-high
	The tortured trucks were slithering by
	Toward the ruptured, shattered sky
	They strove. It hardly mattered why
	We find our hero in the mud
	We guess the fever in his blood
	We try, as he, to laugh at this
	The Iron Man whom bullets
	He's right, the song has just begun
	We'd never kill a man so young
	He's right, the song has just begun
	We'd never kill a man so young
	The sergeant, how they loathed his guts
	He led them down the waggon ruts
	One truck is stalled, the drivers curse
	It's either ambulance or hearse
	The air grows foul, the heavy stench
	Is seeping from the ancient trench
	He takes his place and laughs at this
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	He's right, no matter how they try
	The song's too young for him to die
	He's right, no matter how they try
	The song's too young for him to die
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Winter came early to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow
	The builders looked at its unfinished frame, then turned to go
	A small foundation, a pile of sand, a rusty hammer in a cold, cold hand
	It wasn't a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came hard
	Winter was death to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow
	Warped its timbers and cracked the foundations, then turned to go
	The sketch was crumpled in a cold, cold hand. The hammer buried in the pile of sand
	The builders' thoughts were of virgin land when winter came early and winter came hard
	Spring was puzzled by the house on the hill, last patch of snow
	Gave it flowers and climbing vines, then turned to go
	Small boys played on the pile of sand, plastic weapons in their eager hands
	It wasn't a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came hard
	The young lieutenant, new to war
	Is sick upon the trench's floor
	The sergeant, how they cursed his head
	Is suddenly quite cold and dead
	The deafening explosions cease
	The calm a cruel burlesque of peace
	The whistle blows, the charge is made
	The Iron Man is unafraid
	He's right, he's young and brave and strong
	Just the kind to fill a song
	He's right, he's young and brave and strong
	Just the kind to fill a song
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Frost on the blankets of the strong boys' room
	Heat for the sissies, for the prep-school pansies
	Ice cold showers for the cool platoon
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Wipe that smile off and shine your brass
	Grab your ankles and I'll give you twenty
	Drop that rifle and I'll have your ass
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle's sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping. I'll be all right
	Goodnight. Goodnight
	Town girls love it in the picture shows
	Save the dances for the home-town ladies
	Save five dollars for the one who knows
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Grab your ankles for the old cadets
	Drop your trousers and you'll get what's coming
	Is there more to this than you're quite sure of?
	Put it in a card to mamma
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle's sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping. I'll be all right
	Goodnight, goodnight!
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle's sleeping
	The whistle blows. The charge is made
	The Iron Man is unafraid
	The young lieutenant screams out loud
	The bullets hum like a startled crowd
	The young lieutenant screams and falls
	The Iron Man runs up the walls
	And blows the enemy a kiss
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	He's right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	He's right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Angie, from where I stand
	The water breaks on the spit of sand
	How does it survive?
	Angie, for all I know
	The sand is tired and ready to go
	It's less than alive
	But you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie's your name!
	Angie, from where I stand
	Your smile is so discretely planned
	I'm not sure it's there
	Angie, for all I know
	You'll notice me, you'll turn and go
	You won't even care
	That's you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie's your name!
	Angie, I was getting along
	Nothing quite right, but nothing too wrong
	I didn't know you existed
	I ran my life like a safe machine
	Lost myself in a safe routine
	But now it's all twisted
	With my hand on the knife
	For the rest of my life
	Angie, from where I stand
	You rise and wave an ungloved hand
	You smile in the sun
	Angie, you smile for him
	He calls to you. The light is dim
	You break into a run
	And you're gone. So ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie's your name!
	The battered fort is ours again
	It only cost ten-thousand men
	And when a young lieutenant dies
	Some survivor has to rise
	So like a humble prayer of thanks
	The Iron Man goes up the ranks
	The man whom bullets miss goes far
	He wins a kiss and wears a star
	And he's right – a man who lives through that
	Deserves a star upon his hat
	He's right – a man who lives through that
	Deserves a star upon his hat
	And now the nation cheers his name
	The politicians play his game
	He's coaxed and shrewdly follows fate
	Until he's leader of the State
	The peace grows dull, the pace too slow
	At last he finds convenient foe
	The Congress balks, the galleries hiss
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	But he's right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	He's right, the Generals pat their guns
	And Congress turns and Congress runs
	He's right, the nation shouts its thanks
	The young men run to join the ranks
	He's right, his name is in their blood
	While huddling in some foreign mud
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, mess-kit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle's sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping, I'll be all right
	Goodnight, goodnight!

	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Out on the road, the mud kneehigh
	The tortured trucks were slithering by
	Toward the ruptured, shattered sky
	They strove. It hardly mattered why
	We find our hero in the mud
	We guess the fever in his blood
	We try, as he, to laugh at this
	The Iron Man whom bullets
	He' s right, the song has just begun
	We' d never kill a man so young
	He' s right, the song has just begun
	We' d never kill a man so young
	The sergeant, how they loathed his guts
	He led them down the waggon ruts
	One truck is stalled, the drivers curse
	It' s either ambulance or hearse
	The air grows foul, the heavy stench
	Is seeping from the ancient trench
	He takes his place and laughs at this
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	He' s right, no matter how they try
	The song' s too young for him to die
	He' s right, no matter how they try
	The song' s too young for him to die
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Winter came early to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow
	The builders looked at its unfinished frame, then turned to go
	A small foundation, a pile of sand, a rusty hammer in a cold, cold hand
	It wasn' t a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came hard
	Winter was death to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow
	Warped its timbers and cracked the foundations, then turned to go
	The sketch was crumpled in a cold, cold hand. The hammer buried in the pile of sand
	The builders' thoughts were of virgin land when winter came early and winter came hard
	Spring was puzzled by the house on the hill, last patch of snow
	Gave it flowers and climbing vines, then turned to go
	Small boys played on the pile of sand, plastic weapons in their eager hands
	It wasn' t a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came hard
	The young lieutenant, new to war
	Is sick upon the trench' s floor
	The sergeant, how they cursed his head
	Is suddenly quite cold and dead
	The deafening explosions cease
	The calm a cruel burlesque of peace
	The whistle blows, the charge is made
	The Iron Man is unafraid
	He' s right, he' s young and brave and strong
	Just the kind to fill a song
	He' s right, he' s young and brave and strong
	Just the kind to fill a song
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Frost on the blankets of the strong boys' room
	Heat for the sissies, for the prepschool pansies
	Ice cold showers for the cool platoon
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Wipe that smile off and shine your brass
	Grab your ankles and I' ll give you twenty
	Drop that rifle and I' ll have your ass
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle' s sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping. I' ll be all right
	Goodnight. Goodnight
	Town girls love it in the picture shows
	Save the dances for the hometown ladies
	Save five dollars for the one who knows
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Grab your ankles for the old cadets
	Drop your trousers and you' ll get what' s coming
	Is there more to this than you' re quite sure of?
	Put it in a card to mamma
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle' s sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping. I' ll be all right
	Goodnight, goodnight!
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle' s sleeping
	The whistle blows. The charge is made
	The Iron Man is unafraid
	The young lieutenant screams out loud
	The bullets hum like a startled crowd
	The young lieutenant screams and falls
	The Iron Man runs up the walls
	And blows the enemy a kiss
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	He' s right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	He' s right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Angie, from where I stand
	The water breaks on the spit of sand
	How does it survive?
	Angie, for all I know
	The sand is tired and ready to go
	It' s less than alive
	But you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie' s your name!
	Angie, from where I stand
	Your smile is so discretely planned
	I' m not sure it' s there
	Angie, for all I know
	You' ll notice me, you' ll turn and go
	You won' t even care
	That' s you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie' s your name!
	Angie, I was getting along
	Nothing quite right, but nothing too wrong
	I didn' t know you existed
	I ran my life like a safe machine
	Lost myself in a safe routine
	But now it' s all twisted
	With my hand on the knife
	For the rest of my life
	Angie, from where I stand
	You rise and wave an ungloved hand
	You smile in the sun
	Angie, you smile for him
	He calls to you. The light is dim
	You break into a run
	And you' re gone. So ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie' s your name!
	The battered fort is ours again
	It only cost tenthousand men
	And when a young lieutenant dies
	Some survivor has to rise
	So like a humble prayer of thanks
	The Iron Man goes up the ranks
	The man whom bullets miss goes far
	He wins a kiss and wears a star
	And he' s right a man who lives through that
	Deserves a star upon his hat
	He' s right a man who lives through that
	Deserves a star upon his hat
	And now the nation cheers his name
	The politicians play his game
	He' s coaxed and shrewdly follows fate
	Until he' s leader of the State
	The peace grows dull, the pace too slow
	At last he finds convenient foe
	The Congress balks, the galleries hiss
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	But he' s right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	He' s right, the Generals pat their guns
	And Congress turns and Congress runs
	He' s right, the nation shouts its thanks
	The young men run to join the ranks
	He' s right, his name is in their blood
	While huddling in some foreign mud
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle' s sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping, I' ll be all right
	Goodnight, goodnight!

	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Out on the road, the mud kneehigh
	The tortured trucks were slithering by
	Toward the ruptured, shattered sky
	They strove. It hardly mattered why
	We find our hero in the mud
	We guess the fever in his blood
	We try, as he, to laugh at this
	The Iron Man whom bullets
	He' s right, the song has just begun
	We' d never kill a man so young
	He' s right, the song has just begun
	We' d never kill a man so young
	The sergeant, how they loathed his guts
	He led them down the waggon ruts
	One truck is stalled, the drivers curse
	It' s either ambulance or hearse
	The air grows foul, the heavy stench
	Is seeping from the ancient trench
	He takes his place and laughs at this
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	He' s right, no matter how they try
	The song' s too young for him to die
	He' s right, no matter how they try
	The song' s too young for him to die
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Winter came early to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow
	The builders looked at its unfinished frame, then turned to go
	A small foundation, a pile of sand, a rusty hammer in a cold, cold hand
	It wasn' t a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came hard
	Winter was death to the house on the hill, frost, wind and snow
	Warped its timbers and cracked the foundations, then turned to go
	The sketch was crumpled in a cold, cold hand. The hammer buried in the pile of sand
	The builders' thoughts were of virgin land when winter came early and winter came hard
	Spring was puzzled by the house on the hill, last patch of snow
	Gave it flowers and climbing vines, then turned to go
	Small boys played on the pile of sand, plastic weapons in their eager hands
	It wasn' t a big house that they planned, but winter came early and winter came hard
	The young lieutenant, new to war
	Is sick upon the trench' s floor
	The sergeant, how they cursed his head
	Is suddenly quite cold and dead
	The deafening explosions cease
	The calm a cruel burlesque of peace
	The whistle blows, the charge is made
	The Iron Man is unafraid
	He' s right, he' s young and brave and strong
	Just the kind to fill a song
	He' s right, he' s young and brave and strong
	Just the kind to fill a song
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Frost on the blankets of the strong boys' room
	Heat for the sissies, for the prepschool pansies
	Ice cold showers for the cool platoon
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Wipe that smile off and shine your brass
	Grab your ankles and I' ll give you twenty
	Drop that rifle and I' ll have your ass
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle' s sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping. I' ll be all right
	Goodnight. Goodnight
	Town girls love it in the picture shows
	Save the dances for the hometown ladies
	Save five dollars for the one who knows
	Once a month a card to mamma
	Grab your ankles for the old cadets
	Drop your trousers and you' ll get what' s coming
	Is there more to this than you' re quite sure of?
	Put it in a card to mamma
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle' s sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping. I' ll be all right
	Goodnight, goodnight!
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle' s sleeping
	The whistle blows. The charge is made
	The Iron Man is unafraid
	The young lieutenant screams out loud
	The bullets hum like a startled crowd
	The young lieutenant screams and falls
	The Iron Man runs up the walls
	And blows the enemy a kiss
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	He' s right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	He' s right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Angie, from where I stand
	The water breaks on the spit of sand
	How does it survive?
	Angie, for all I know
	The sand is tired and ready to go
	It' s less than alive
	But you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie' s your name!
	Angie, from where I stand
	Your smile is so discretely planned
	I' m not sure it' s there
	Angie, for all I know
	You' ll notice me, you' ll turn and go
	You won' t even care
	That' s you, so ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie' s your name!
	Angie, I was getting along
	Nothing quite right, but nothing too wrong
	I didn' t know you existed
	I ran my life like a safe machine
	Lost myself in a safe routine
	But now it' s all twisted
	With my hand on the knife
	For the rest of my life
	Angie, from where I stand
	You rise and wave an ungloved hand
	You smile in the sun
	Angie, you smile for him
	He calls to you. The light is dim
	You break into a run
	And you' re gone. So ready to leave. The first trembling leaf to break loose in the Fall
	Angie, so ready to fly. Is there time to ask why? Is there no time at all?
	Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
	Angie, If Angie' s your name!
	The battered fort is ours again
	It only cost tenthousand men
	And when a young lieutenant dies
	Some survivor has to rise
	So like a humble prayer of thanks
	The Iron Man goes up the ranks
	The man whom bullets miss goes far
	He wins a kiss and wears a star
	And he' s right a man who lives through that
	Deserves a star upon his hat
	He' s right a man who lives through that
	Deserves a star upon his hat
	And now the nation cheers his name
	The politicians play his game
	He' s coaxed and shrewdly follows fate
	Until he' s leader of the State
	The peace grows dull, the pace too slow
	At last he finds convenient foe
	The Congress balks, the galleries hiss
	The Iron Man whom bullets miss
	But he' s right, the man whom bullets miss
	Is meant for something more than this
	He' s right, the Generals pat their guns
	And Congress turns and Congress runs
	He' s right, the nation shouts its thanks
	The young men run to join the ranks
	He' s right, his name is in their blood
	While huddling in some foreign mud
	The orders came, the midnight rain
	Was driving down the window pane
	They rose like cattle, messkit rattle
	Showed them green and new to battle
	Play me the Taps, the quadrangle' s sleeping
	Here in his rack my roommate is weeping
	Someone is weeping, I' ll be all right
	Goodnight, goodnight!

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