Come here, you, casualties of war
I'll sing an old, old song
Of heroes and of cowardice
Of rifles, cannons, bombs..
You were out trudging in deserts whose skies
Were filled with vagabond stars
Riding in tanks with your dust-crusted eyes
And longing for neighborhood bars
This country once empowered you
With crystal motive and purview
But now we've all deserted you
For war - is just a fad..
Our president, belligerent
Because our Towers fell
Went fatefully into Iraq
And logic went to hell
Shiites and Sunnis and Christians and Kurds
Discovered their hatreds of old
Each one believing their motives were pure
And ready to die for their code..
This country once empowered you
With crystal motive and purview
But now we've all deserted you
For war… is just a fad.
Congratulations aren't in store
When war's unpopular
But resolutely you endure
Sworn to defend our shores
Yet where are our shores in a desert
Where civilization experienced birth ?
Nowhere in sight, just the blistering haze
Of the scorched and intransigent Earth
The country once empowered you
With crystal motive and purview
But now we've all deserted you
for war… is just a fad…
Come here you casualties of war…
I'll sing an old, old song
Of heroes and of cowardice
Of rifles, cannons, bombs..
You were out trudging in deserts whose skies
Were filled with vagabond stars
Riding in tanks with your dust-crusted eyes
And longing for neighborhood bars
This country once empowered you
With crystal motive and purview
But now we've all deserted you
For war - is just a fad..
Our president, belligerent
Because our Towers fell
Went fatefully into Iraq
And logic went to hell
Shiites and Sunnis and Christians and Kurds
Discovered their hatreds of old
Each one believing their motives were pure
And ready to die for their code..
This country once empowered you
With crystal motive and purview
But now we've all deserted you
For war… is just a fad.
Congratulations aren't in store
When war's unpopular
But resolutely you endure
Sworn to defend our shores
Yet where are our shores in a desert
Where civilization experienced birth ?
Nowhere in sight, just the blistering haze
Of the scorched and intransigent Earth
The country once empowered you
With crystal motive and purview
But now we've all deserted you
for war… is just a fad…
Come here you casualties of war…
Contributed by giorgio - 2012/2/26 - 16:02
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Lyrics & Music by Craig E. Chaffin
Album: Transplant
A lament for the Iraq war and war in general.
"I was strumming a minor chord one day and listening to Brahams when this slighly symphonic tune took over my mind and fingers. It was painful to write, and to all veterans, certainly, painful to hear".