On The Line

He left in '68 to bypass the lottery,

Sounded stupid then, but the choice was free,

It wasn't long before he was upon that plane,

This was the real deal, not no war game.

His son left in '03, had no lottery,

His uncle told him to be all that you can be.

Men and women all have gone, sadly not the last.

When will this world put war in the past?

Chorus:  Some have to stay, some have to go,

              Sometimes there's reasons, why I don't know,

              But there going,.... to put it on the line. 

Both did their tours, they felt the fright,

Now thay wake up soaked in the middle of the night.

Remembering fields of smoke, painted steel blue,

Looking through a lens, you cannot see through.

Pulled in directions, a senseless thing,

Alone on a forked road where the soul couldn't sing.

In our countries battles gone by,

They fought for freedom, never asked why.

Chorus:

Confusion runs on through our lives,

Should we avoid or confront the strife?

Nations divided across the seas,

Now is the time to stand on your beliefs.

So as time goes by, should we have passed instead?

As the numbers grow, like the rising dead.

And in the morning from the papers overnight,

Another story's told of a life lost in the fight.

Chorus and fade out....