And Then it Turned to Dark

Words and Music © 2025 by Geoffrey Clarfield. Written on May 23, 2025.

And Then it Turned to Dark

There is a time

And a place for every greetin'

There's a tear

For all those who depart

There's a place in heaven

For a meetin'

There is light

But soon it will be dark

I was young

When all those drums were beatin'

I was loyal

Faithful from the start

When we took Fort Sumter

They were bleedin'

There was light

But soon it turned to dark

There were clouds

Where fields needed seedin'

There were ploughs

And scythes we put aside

There were flutes

And fiddle tunes so fleetin'

There was light

And there there came the dark

I marched

Through hills and through marshes

I ate beans

When we camped beneath the stars

In the night

We heard those sheep bleatin'

There was no light

Soon it all went dark

My love

I write to you this letter

And I fondle the locket or your hair

At every battle, we defeat them

We will expel them

From this land so good and fair

And so we charged

With bayonets and with muskets

For Virginia we cried out with one voice

Had I known one day

We’d lay defeated

I would never

Regret my only choice

Now my friends

Will all remain young men

And my whiskers and beard

All turn grey

They fought

At least they weren’t defeated

Cut down

Like bales of wheat and hay

There is light

But soon it will be dark

There are greetins

And the time we all depart

There was pain

And a loss so demeanin'

There was light

But then it turned to dark

There was pain

And a loss so demeanin'

There was light

But then it turned to dark