Summer Of '46

1. The summer was a long one, always on the run
Moving through the moonlit night, resting in the sun
They say that you were cheerful, like a child in chasing play
Or a gambler guessing recklessly when someone else will pay

2. Through the western highlands, round the western isles
An adventure trail through beauty over countless weary miles
Slipping like a shadow into legend out of chance
Watching for the tall, ghostly sailing ships from France

Chorus: We are all "Young Pretenders" looking for a sign
On a troubled journey through the landscape of the mind
We're looking to the future, trying hard to find
The pathway and the promise and the hope of better times

3. They say that you were happy always keen to take a dram
bottle the companion always nearest to your hand
Perhaps to dull the memory or take away the sound
The cries of young men dying on the blood stained ground

4. That summer must have changed you in fundamental ways
And formed the pattern and the script for your remaining days
Some men are most attracted to a cause that can't be won
Life has many flickering ghosts to make us hide and run

Chorus: We are all "Young Pretenders" looking for a sign
On a troubled journey through the landscape of the mind
We're looking to the future, trying hard to find
The pathway and the promise and the hope of better times