Song For A Reluctant Soldier (In Memory Of Harry Joseph Foxall, 1886-1917)

by Les Étoiles

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	1.	Song For A Reluctant Soldier (In Memory Of Harry Foxall, 1886-1917) 03:49	lyrics	download
	Please don't make me leave When I don't want to go Please don't make me leave My poor mother alone I'll stay and I'll work As I always have done These ways and these people Are all I have known They're all I've ever known

about

I wrote this song three years ago in memory of my great-great-uncle, Private Harry Joseph Foxall, who served in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry during the First World War and was killed in action in France on 19 May 1917.

Harry was apparently deeply reluctant to go to war, as many men were. But rather than speculate on Harry's views on the war, I thought I should try to focus on some of the other reasons why he would not have wanted to go and fight.

Born towards the end of 1886, Harry was living with his mother in Bridgnorth, Shropshire when the war started and had probably been working for at least ten years. It is most likely that he had never been outside of the West Midlands and even quite possible that he had never left Shropshire. In going to war he was not only going to fight in a country that was completely unknown to him, but he was also leaving behind all that he had ever known: his family, his home town, and the surrounding Shropshire countryside.

credits

released May 19, 2017

Written, recorded and produced by David Fitzpatrick.

Thanks to Chris Loy for the use of the piano.

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some rights reserved

about

Les Étoiles England, UK

Les Étoiles was the musical project of Shropshire-based musician and archivist David John Fitzpatrick.

Between 2008 and 2016, Les Étoiles released four albums via the influential net label Records on Ribs.

In 2022, David retired the Les Étoiles moniker and embarked on a new musical project under his own name. His new album, You Are Ours, was released in August 2022. ... more

David John Fitzpatrick

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