He got home from the service as the spring began its turn
Twelve long months away
He folded up his uniform with the medals tucked inside
Started living for today
But the present could not find him, nor could his wife and kids
He was there but he was gone
And soon his only comfort was a bottle and his gun
Something right that went so wrong
And the silence keeps on coming as the movie plays again
He can smell that yellow dust and death hanging on the wind
And we thought the war was over, but the headlines do reveal
That another soldier died today on the hometown battlefield
He sits outside the courthouse with his pant legs tucked away
And no one knows his name
One wrong step there in the sand put him where he is today
One more just the same
All his memories live there in the space below his knees
Back when he was whole
But that IED didn't just relieve him of his legs
It blew apart his soul
And the silence keeps on coming as the movie plays again
He can smell that yellow dust and death flying on the wind
And we thought the war was over, but the headlines do reveal
That another soldier died today on the hometown battlefield
If you're wearing loafers, you ain't walked the burning sands
And you ain't never had to shoot another living man
It don't matter if we won, it don't matter if we lost
They were following their orders, no matter the cost
So I remember what they've given when I see my flag unfurled
Free against the sky
And the way we seem to lose them when they get back to the world
Can someone tell me why
That the silence keeps on coming as the movie plays again
He can smell that yellow dust and death hanging on the wind
And we thought the war was over, but the headlines do reveal
That another soldier died today on the hometown battlefield
Yes, we pray the war is over, but the headlines do reveal
That another soldier died today on the hometown battlefield