Private Riley (New upload with lyrics)

This is a new upload (November, 2020) of a song-video production of “Private Riley” that includes lyrics. The song — about a mythical, time-travelling soldier — commemorates troops with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. Among many other sacrifices, the regiment lost 197 soldiers on the beaches of Dieppe in on Aug. 19, 1942 during the Second World War. Song by Mark McNeil. Video production by Barry Gray. The recording features the RHLI brass band conducted by Michael Rehill. The video was part of an award-winning multimedia and special section project that appeared in The Spectator in 2012.

PRIVATE RILEY
My name is Private Riley I come from Hamilton
I needed some extra schillings so I joined the battalion
They shipped me on a cattle car with a battered musket gun
We made a stand at Ridgeway against the bloody Fenians

I’m a soldier, I’m a soldier, with my pack and uniform
when they called I was ready always ready in peace and war

My name is Private Riley through Flanders and the Somme
I crawled through clouds of chlorine gas, along the Western front
We waited cold and shivering for the rising of the sun
We took the Ridge had the Germans on the run.

My name is Private Riley on the beaches of Dieppe
We waded through the water with our guns above our heads
Gerry sat and picked us off in a hail of screaming lead
We bravely charged forward as the water all turned red.

My name is Private Riley deployed in Kandahar
I watch for suicide bombers, forever I’m on guard
And sometimes I do wonder have I really come that far
From the scared kid with the musket riding in a cattle car.