Am

[Verse]
Am                     E       Am
Oh, the bombs went up and the crunch came down
                              E
In the middle of the Pennsic War:
   C                    Em
It left us stranded in Coopers' Field,
F                      E
Ten thousand souls or more.
C
We had nothing with us but what we'd brought:
     F                     E
Our cars, and our camping gear,
         Am              D
And our arms and armor, tools and skills
                E
We'd worked on all that year.

[Chorus]
Am        E           Am
So dress your ranks, lift your pikes
                         E
Tight as the teeth of a comb;
G                   E
Rattling, clanking down the road,
                  Am
The War is going home!

[Interlude]
G F | Em Am |
|Am | Am|

[Verse]
Am                             E
So a truce was called, and a council held,

And we argued all that night,
         C                Em
Then we all set off in a caravan
        F             E
By the early morning light.
                    C         E
We had tipped our arrows and pikes with steel,
                    F
And were armored, every one;
E               G                  C
Our swords and bows hung ready to hand,
E                           Am
For the time of rattan was done!

[Chorus]
Am        E           Am
So dress your ranks, lift your pikes
                         E
Tight as the teeth of a comb;
G                   E
Rattling, clanking down the road,
                  Am
The War is going home!

[Interlude]
G F | Em Am |
|Am | Am|

[Verse]
E                            Am
The very first town that we came to,
                         E
We stopped for fuel and food;
     C                           G
The gas-man said he had none to sell,
           F               E
The cops were worse than rude!
       C
They drew their guns, we drew our bows,
                        E
They fired – we won the day,
           Am                     D
For their backup radios all were dead,
      E               Am
And shortly, so were they.

[Chorus]
Am        E           Am
So dress your ranks, lift your pikes
                         E
Tight as the teeth of a comb;
G                   E
Rattling, clanking down the road,
                  Am
The War is going home!

[Interlude]
G F | Em Am |
|Am | Am|

[Verse]
E                           Am
The very next town that we came to,
  Em
They had no fuel at all.
      Em
The garage-men said they could change our cars
    F          E
To run on alcohol,
           C                          G
But five thousand cars would take as long
       F              E
As to grow a crop of grain –
              G
So we made a deal, and moved on out
       Am
In a horse-drawn wagon train!

[Chorus]
Am        E           Am
So dress your ranks, lift your pikes
                         E
Tight as the teeth of a comb;
G                   E
Rattling, clanking down the road,
                  Am
The War is going home!

[Interlude]
G F | Em Am |
|Am | Am|

[Verse]
E                                Am
The very third town that we came to
                    Em
The rulers had gone mad!
C                             Bm
The cops tried to enslave us all
F                     E
And steal what all we had.
     C                   G
Our armor proved half bulletproof,
     F                 E
Our weapons worked as well:
                                 D
The townsfolk afterward thanked us all
             Am
For freeing them from Hell.

[Chorus]
Am        E           Am
So dress your ranks, lift your pikes
                         E
Tight as the teeth of a comb;
G                   E
Rattling, clanking down the road,
                  Am
The War is going home!

[Interlude]
G F | Em Am |
|Am | Am|

[Verse]
Am                     E
So, town by town, we worked our way
Am                       Em
Just to take our people home;
      C              Em
The legends that we left behind
    F                  E
It seems, would rival Rome!
     C                   Em
For now the folk come seeking us
     F                 E
To take their troubles on,
G                         C
To be their teachers and champions
   E                     Am
In a world where law is gone.

[Chorus]
Am        E           Am
So dress your ranks, lift your pikes
                         E
Tight as the teeth of a comb;
G                   E
Rattling, clanking down the road,
                  Am
The War is going home!

[Interlude]
G F | Em Am |
|Am | Am|

[Verse]
E                            Am
How can we not take up the steel
                           Em
For to serve our people's need?
     C                G
How can we leave our land to fall
    F            E
To any bandit's greed?
C
We have the skills to save our folk
       F       E
From whatever evil thrives:
        Am               D
And – admit the truth – this is the chance
       A
We've hoped for all our lives!

[Chorus]
E
So, dress your ranks, lift your pikes
Am                        Em
Tight as the teeth of a comb;
G                        Am
Rattling, clanking down the road,
G                   Em              E
Dressed in leather and steel and – woad?
Em                F                 E
All too aware of history's loooooooaaad,
Am                G
The War is going home!
Am
The War is coming home!