Alive In The Lights

From the beginning I knew I was different. I embraced it, but you didn't. I won't fall like the rest of them,who have come and gone with the wind. I hear the doubt in the back of your mind but still I'll see this through to the end. Maybe if you paid more attention, asked more questions and actually listened you would see this is not just a dream, but a path I've chosen that means everything to me.

What more do I have to do to finally prove myself to you? What is it that you need to see to finally believe this is who I'm supposed to be? Most days I feel like your punching bag, but I will never let it hold me back. I just wish for once you knew how it felt to be brought down lower than everything else. Don't you care to see the difference I've made? Listen closely, the highways call my name. Don't you see this is my everything? It may not seem right to you and you might not approve but it's real. This is the only thing that makes me feel. This is who I am. This is my life.

What will be written on your tombstone? You sat behind a desk. You had no backbone. What will be written on your tombstone? You sold your soul, grew old alone. Would you prefer that I become a lifeless, hollow shell such as yourself? Would you prefer that I give up my dreams and lose all hope just like everyone else? Don't you see the lives that have been saved? Listen closely, the highways call my name. Don't you see this is my everything? It may not seem right to you and you might not approve but it's real. This is the only thing that makes me feel.

Just A Hero of War

He said, “Son,
Have you see the world?
Well, what would you say
If I said that you could?
Just carry this gun and you’ll even get paid.”
I said, “That sounds pretty good.”

Black leather boots
Spit-shined so bright
They cut off my hair but it looked alright
We marched and we sang
We all became friends
As we learned how to fight

A hero of war
Yeah that’s what I’ll be
And when I come home
They’ll be damn proud of me
I’ll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it’s flag that I love
And a flag that I trust

I kicked in the door
I yelled my commands
The children, they cried
But I got my man
We took him away
A bag over his face
From his family and his friends

They took off his clothes
They pissed in his hands
I told them to stop
But then I joined in
We beat him with guns
And batons not just once
But again and again

A hero of war
Yeah that’s what I’ll be
And when I come home
They’ll be damn proud of me
I’ll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it’s flag that I love
And a flag that I trust

She walked through bullets and haze
I asked her to stop
I begged her to stay
But she pressed on
So I lifted my gun
And I fired away

The shells jumped through the smoke
And into the sand
That the blood now had soaked
She collapsed with a flag in her hand
A flag white as snow

A hero of war
Is that what they see
Just medals and scars
So damn proud of me
And I brought home that flag
Now it gathers dust
But it’s a flag that I love
It’s the only flag I trust

He said, “Son, have you seen the world? Well what would you say, if I said that you could?”

Those who don't know his story see him as a hero.
Those who do know his story see him as a monster.
Reality sees him as the victim