Dedication Day

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Verse 1

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August in Mildura, and winters on the run,
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there?s an early taste of springtime, in the warm mid-morning sun.
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As the men marched past from first to last, the crowds cheer everyone,
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 and war seems somehow very far away, on this sunny dedication day.

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They marched to a memorial, built by and for their own,
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a simple wall of remembrance of brick and steel and stone.
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With the names inscribed of those that died and to those that had made it home,
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 with a debt of love and honor to repay, had all gathered there on dedication day.


Chorus

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It?s dedication day,
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It?s dedication day.


Verse 2
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There was a concert held that evening me and others sang our songs,
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while the boys drank beer and reminisced, laughed and clapped and sang along.
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As I was standing there with my guitar, just waiting to go on,
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 a man grabbed my arm and said please would you play a, song for my mate Hans this dedication 
day.


Verse 3
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He asked me to sing welcome home, and I saw tears in his eyes,
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 I knew there was a story there, but I did not want to pry.
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And then he said to me, I want that song you see, for this morning my mate died,
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faced with his grief there was nothing I could say, so I sang for Hans on dedication day.


Chorus
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It?s dedication day
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It?s dedication day


(Piano solo)


Verse 4
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They say that Hans took his own life, but I don?t know if that?s true,
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but if it is that?s no surprise, too many Vietnam vetrans do.
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Only those who were there, can know the despair and the pain that he went through,
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for who can understand it more than they, those who knew the cost of dedication day

Verse 5
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Though that Asian wars long over, there still burying their dead
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yet somehow the bond grows stronger, with each broken thread
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What poison stole and two hands sold to taint the years ahead
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In that war so long ago and far away until they died of wounds on dedication day.


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Chorus

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It's dedication day
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It's dedication day