SONG INFORMATION

First released by The Original Caste (1969)
Released by The Bluegrass Alliance (1970)

LYRICS

Listen children to a story
That was written long ago
Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley folk below
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone
And the valley people swore
They’d have it for their very own

So go ahead and hate your neighbour
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
But on the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

So the people from the valley
Sent a message up the hill
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they’d kill
Came an answer from the kingdom
“With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of the mountain
All the riches buried there”

Now the valley cried with anger
“Mount your horses, draw your swords”
And they killed the mountain people
So they won their just rewards
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain, dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
“Peace on earth” was all it said

So go ahead and hate your neighbour
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
But on the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

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