Don't know if I'm dreamin' or just tryin' to remember it all
I'm tangled in memories between home and a far away fall
I want to go home but the home that I know is now gone
Rounds poppin' off rocks like the sparks from a fire and I'm gone
I love it and I hate it I just can't explain it
It twists up my guts and it tattoos my brain
With pictures that I can't explain...
It's a life and death game
We were pinned down in a valley with echos of home in my head
Said I've got to survive cause that little girl sure needs her dad
So I move out with purpose and take care of the task that's at hand
Just another deep valley somewhere here in Afghanistan
Well I love it and I hate it but I just can't explain it
It twists up my guts and it tattoos my brain
With pictures that I can't explain...
It's a life and death game
Artillery thunders as helos come chopperin' in
They fire and maneuver while the enemy covers their head
And like magic they're gone and we don't even know if they're dead
So it's back to the base where we'll rest up then do it again
Well I love it and I hate it but I just can't explain it
It twists up my guts and it tattoos my brain
With pictures that I can't explain...
It's a life and death game
Away in my head tryin' hard to make sense of it all
The price that we pay man sometimes just feels like it's wrong
Well Mike and J.C. hell I miss 'em both but they're gone
So try hard not to think cause it just might not add up at all
Well I love it and I hate it but I just can't explain it
It twists up my guts and it tattoos my brain
With pictures that I can't explain...
It's a life and death game