It's not hard to reach back
To that day, underneath the Iowa sun
Running to the tower of Waterloo
looking for the Sullivan's train to come
And his five boys would run to the top
And salute him as he went by
First we wave hello, then we waved goodbye
Goodbye

It's not hard to reach back
to the days after the attack on Pearl
And overnight my buddies turned into men
Running out of time for games and girls
And the Sullivan boys were not overlooked
Uncle Sam calling each by name
The very next day they left on a mystery train

So say goodbye, bye, bye Mrs Sullivan
And don't you cry, cry, cry, cry, cry
We regret to inform you that the Navy
is taking your sons away
All five, five, five, five
So put your blue star in the window
In the window

It's not hard to reach back to her smile
when she received a letter
and the letters they sounded generally the same
said if they couldn't be home
at least they were together
on a mighty fighting battleship
somewhere in the South Pacific
the letters never got much more specific

So say goodbye, bye, bye Mrs Sullivan
And don't you cry, cry, cry, cry, cry
We regret to inform you that the Navy
is keeping your sons away
All five, five, five, five
So put your blue star in the window
In the window

It's not hard to reach back to the day
when the war finally came home
Uncle Sam'll send you a telegram
so he doesn't have to tell you over the phone

I heard she cracked up
when they found out what the war had cost
When all of her five of her boys were lost
They were, they were, they were

Say goodbye, bye, bye Mrs Sullivan
Go ahead and cry, cry, cry, cry, cry
We regret to inform you that all of your sons have passed away
All five, five, five, five
So change your blue star to gold
Blue star to gold
Blue star to gold
Blue stars change them to gold