Billy Bishop

I saw the award winning Billy Bishop goes to War tonight. It was performed by Ryan Beil and Zachary Gray, the son of John MacLachlan Gray, the author of the play. For many years John Gray played the piano as an accompaniment to the monologue, but tonight his son played the guitar and sang in his supporting role to Ryan Beil. The harmony was outstanding when these two young men, students at UBC, sang the lyrics by John Gray.

It was a timely reminder that Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are fighting a dangerous war, with a higher mortality rate than the Americans in Iraq. Here is one of the lyrics Gray wrote about the trenches in 1916.

Oh, the bloody earth is littered
With the fighters and the quitters
Oh, what could be more bitter
Than a nameless death below

See the trenches, long and winding,
See the battle slowly grinding,
Don't you wonder how good men can live so low.

Up above, the sun is burning,
Up above, the clouds are yearning:
"Oh, if only I could fly!"
From the burning sun, I'll sight you.
In the burning sun, I'll fight you.
Oh, let us dance together in the sky.

In the sky,
In the sky,
Just you and I up there together,
Who knows why?
One the hunter, one the hunted;
A life to live, a death confronted
Oh, let us dance together in the sky.

And for you the bell is ringing,
And for you, the bullets singing:
"Oh, my friends, it's you or I."
And I'll watch you last returning
to the earth, the fires burning.
Look up and you will see me wave goodbye.

In the sky,
In the sky,
Just you and I up there together,
Who knows why?
One the hunter, one the hunted;
A life to live, a death confronted
Oh, let us dance together in the sky.