They Fell

They fell that year They vanished from the earth Never knowing the cause Or what laws they'd offended The women fell as well And the babies they tendered Left to die, left to cry All condemned by their birth They fell like rain Across the thirsty land In their heart, they were slain In their God, still believing All their pity and pain In that season of grieving Call in vain, all in vain Just for one helping hand For no one heard their prayers In a world bent on pleasure From others people cares They simply closed their eyes They create a lot of sound In jazz and rag-time measure The trumpets screamed till dawn To drown the children's cries They fell like leaves Hit people in its prime Simple man, kindly man And not one knew his crime They became in that hour Like the small desert flower Soon covered by the silent wind In sands of time They fell that year Before a cruel foe They had little to give But their lives and their passion And their longing to live In their way In their fashion So their harvest could thrive And their children could grow They fell like flies Their eyes still full of sound Like a dove in its flight In the path of a rifle That falls down where it might As if death were a trifle And to bring to an end A life barely begun And I am of that race Who died in unknown places Who perished in their pride Whose blood in rivers ran In agony and flight With courage on their faces They went into the night That waits for every man They fell like tears And never knew what for In that summer of strife Of massacre and war Their only crime was life Their only guilt was being The children of Armenia Nothing less, nothing more --- THEY FELL - Charles Aznavour