Children's Crusade
Sting Lyrics

Young men, soldiers, nineteen fourteen
This line alludes to the young soldiers who were sent to war in 1914, barely adults but expected to fight for their country.

Marching through countries they'd never seen
The soldiers were sent to foreign lands they had never seen before and had no connection to.

Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
The soldiers, untrained and inexperienced, were given rifles as if it were a game rather than the dangerous reality of war.

All for a children's crusade
This line suggests that the soldiers were merely pawns in a larger game that they did not fully understand or agree with. The 'children's crusade' was an allusion to the medieval crusades, where children were sent on a doomed mission.

Pawns in the game are not victims of chance
While the soldiers may have been seen as pawns in a larger game, they were not simply victims of circumstance or fate.

Strewn on the fields of Belgium and France
The soldiers lost their lives on the battlefields of Belgium and France, their sacrifices forgotten by those who sent them to war.

Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
The image of poppies symbolizes the lives lost in war, with 'death's bitter trade' suggesting that war is a cruel and unforgiving reality.

All of those young lives betrayed
The young soldiers were betrayed by those who sent them to war and by a society that romanticized conflict.

The children of England would never be slaves
This line is a reference to the myth of English exceptionalism, suggesting that the soldiers were fighting for a noble cause.

They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The soldiers were trapped on the barbed wire of the trenches, unable to move forward and dying in large numbers.

The flower of England face down in the mud
This line suggests that the best and brightest of England were lost in battle, their potential and promise wasted in a futile conflict.

And stained in the blood of a whole generation
The bloodshed of World War I stained an entire generation of young people, leaving scars that would last for decades.

Corpulent generals safe behind lines
The generals who led the war effort were often overweight and comfortably situated behind the front lines.

History's lessons drowned in red wine
The lessons of history were ignored in the lead-up to World War I, with decision-makers more concerned with their own comforts and pleasures (represented by 'red wine').

Midnight in Soho nineteen eighty four
This line jumps forward in time to the year 1984 and the neighborhood of Soho in London, suggesting that echoes of the past still linger.

Fixing in doorways, opium slaves
The people in Soho are depicted as 'opium slaves,' addicted to a destructive lifestyle.

Poppies for young men, such bitter trade
The image of poppies is repeated, emphasizing the continued toll of war on young lives.

All of those young lives betrayed
The cycle of betrayal and loss continues, with young people once again being led to their deaths.

All for a children's crusade
The song concludes with the same line it began with, suggesting that the tragedy of war and the sacrifice of young lives continue without end.