They Fell (Ils Sont Tombés)

They fell that year, they vanished
From the earth
Never knowing the cause
Or what laws they offended
The women fell as well
And the babies they tendered
Left to die left to cry
All condemned by their birth.

They fell like rain
Across the thirsty land
In their hearts they were slain
In their god still believing
All their pity and pain
In that season of grieving
All in vain, all in vain
Just for one helping hand
For no one heard their prayers
In a world bent on pleasure
Form others people cares
They simply closed their eyes
They'd create a lot of sound
In jazz and ragtime measure
The trumpets screamed till dawn
To drown the children's cries
They fell like leaves
A people its prime
And not one new his crime
They became in that hour
Like the small desert flower
Simply covered by the silent wind
In sands of time.

They fell that year
Before a cruel foe
They had little to give
But their lives and their passion
And their longing to live
In their way
In their fashion
So their harvest can
Thrive their children can grow
They fell like flies
Their eyes still full of sound
Like a dove its flight
In the path of rifle
That fell down where it might
That holds on with its might
As if death were a trifle
And to bring to an end
A life barely begun
And I am of that race
Who die in unknown places
Who perished in their pride
Whose blood in rivers ran
In agony and fright
With courage on their faces
They went in to the night
That waits for every man
They fell like tears
And never new what for
In that summer of strife
Of massacre and war
Their only crime was life
There only guilt was feeling
The children of Armenia
Nothing less nothing more.