[Spoken]

That's him in the corner of social oblivion

Encompassed by the sweet sense of freedom

That only borders the aura of deep cerebral gouges

Buried in each beat of the heart he was once proud to home

If only his substance held a higher level of potence

He might be able to drown the portion of his mind

Which is trapped in the infinite hoard

Of his 1972 through '74 tour through the flames of this hell



Sometimes gunfire is brighter than the sunshine

And sometimes a child's scream influences every dream

Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we've moved on

But no way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen



It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the brink of forty-three

Still searching for sanity, surveying the floor of his distorted sea

He rememebers high-school friends joking about the war

Never knew what mom was crying for (Never knew what mom was crying for)

The other piece that shines in his mind was a divine first love

Sewn-made, beauty, brown-eyed queen he left behind

He remembers holding her tight, watching the sunset at shore

Never knew what she was crying for (Never knew what she was crying for)

He got the letter in the mail by the middle of his summer

Wouldn't have had to go if it wasn't for his newborn brother

He was barely eighteen, murdering people even younger

And he still ducks and covers every time he hears the thunder

He still hears the screams, smells the flesh, tastes the death

Sees the blood, feels the pain, what's to gain, nothing's left

But the slug that remains in his right calf

The bullet laughs every time he cries, and it drives him mad

Trying to sleep, but the visions give him a cold sweat

The war's been over for two decades, but he still hasn't been home yet

And every day he waits and strains to supress his guilt

And forget the horror and the violence; the "kill or be killed"

Fists, they always clenched; teeth, they always grinding

Real life is lost and in a bottle he tries to find it

"It's not fair," he mumbles through a nightmare

Only in a fight for two years and wound up spending his whole life there



[Chorus]

He was face to face with the devil for the welfare of his country

Now he's straining to live but his conscience won't let him

It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see

He left the war, but the war never left him, see

He left the war, but the war never left him, see

He left the war, but the war never left him, see

He left the war, but the war never left him, see

He left the war...



It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the edge of a park bench

He asked God for hope and found his source non-existant

He sits in the shadows, because the sun burns no more

Now he knows what mom was crying for (Now he knows what mom was crying for)

I used to watch old man in the park

The sights slowly drove fright through my heart

Wishing I could help but not knowing where to start

I'd walk away, curse the world, gush some love and curse some more

Now you know who I've been crying for (Now you know who I've been crying

for)

He threw his medals in the river but they sunk alone

Put shades on his eyes to hide it from the warzone in the sky

He tried to slit his wrists about a month ago

But he's seen so much death, he's scared to life of suicide

If there was only some way he could escape this penitentiary

Goals get bigger and figures it'll chase away his memory

But the dreams only worsen, the scenes almost burst in

He recalls how training took away his right to be a person

Put a gun in his hand, left him to die for the land

The plan was the murder of man (The plan was the murder of man)

Politicians have a dispute to decide to send in troops

But the truth is they just don't understand (They just don't understand)

Now he's running out of time, and running out of energy

But 'til the last day he will fight for the murder of his memories

And although he never got rid of his dog-tags

He still wishes they'd have sent his parents an American flag



[Chorus]



Sometimes gunfire is brighter than the sunshine

And sometimes a child's scream influences every dream

Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we've moved on

But no way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen