I. Beyond Reason

I didn't want to fight in a foreign land
but I got swept up in the fever
of patriotic themes
and consecrated evil,
until I could even see
that the ones I were leaving
covered with blood
could have been brothers to me.

I've seen the darkness form
on the far side of a dream.
I've seen the hands of war and hate
and the shadows that they bring
and the sadness of it all,
the madness of it all,
is that all of it is just
as it seems.

I didn't want to die in a foreign land
So I did my share of the killing.
I closed my heart and mind
and lost all trace of feeling,
so I wouldn't have to see
that the one I was leaving
covered with blood
would forever be me.

Still the faces run--
I can't hold back the visions
the colors bleed across my thoughts
a napalm kindled fussion.
and the madness of it all
the sadness of it all
is that all of it is just
as it seems.

II. The Long Road Home

It's a long road,
a hard way,
that leads back from
the grave.
it's a long road,
a hard way,
to recover the life
we gave.

There's fire in my heart and eyes
and falling from my wounds.
My scars can never mend
caise the world forgot too soon.
And I've nothing to show
for the dreams that filled
my soul--
So where do I go from here?
Tell me, where do I go.

We fought for freedom in a foreign land
though we were never free.
We walked through the flames of hell
so no one else would have to see
what we hold in our memory.

It's time to damn the tide
and try to build my life again.
I don't need your forgiveness
cause I dared to take a stand.
I can't say that I was right,
but you can't say that I was wrong.
I don't know that it matters
when we must carry on.

It's a long road,
a hard way,
that leads back
from the grave.
It's a long road,
a hard way,
to recover the life
we gave--