Yankee boots upon her feet she wore
To walk the stony streets of Boston
And Yankee music, black man's beat was all
It took that night to get her dancing
And as she looked out on the rain, she said
"Tonight El Salvador is crying"
And when she wrote from there today it read
"It's always Yankee boots out marching"
But that's so far away
All those miles away
And all your friends will say
"Mind your own backyard"
She said, "They never talk of peace no more
How did things ever get so desperate?"
She said, "They tell you to look east for war
I tell you, keep your eyes out westward"
She said, "That dream of those New England nights
When these old boots were new and shining
And when I wake up in the morning light
It's always Yankee boots out marching"
But that's so far away
All those miles away
And all your friends will say
"Mind your own backyard"
Your boots and clothes against the night, too neat
To walk the stony sea of cobble
And back-street lamps give enough light to meet
Where talk's of someone else's trouble
Turn off that telly in this empty bar
Its bloody news is not worth watching
It's always battles fought ten times before
It's always Yankee boots out marching
But that's so far away
All those miles away
And all your friends will say
"Mind your own backyard"
Yankee boots upon her feet she wore
To walk the stony streets of Boston
And Yankee music, black man's beat was all
It took that night to get her dancing
And as she looked out on the rain, she said
"Tonight El Salvador is crying"
And when she wrote from there today it read
"It's always Yankee boots out marching"
But that's so far away
All those miles away
And all your friends will say
"Mind your own backyard"