A Murder of Memories

(Spoken) That's him in the corner of social oblivion Encompassed by the sweet sense of freedom That only borders the aura of deep cerebral gouges Buried in each beat of the heart he was once proud to home If only his substance held a higher level of potence He might be able to drown the portion of his mind Which is trapped in the infinite hoard Of his 1972 through '74 tour through the flames of this hell Sometimes gunfire is brighter than the sunshine And sometimes a child's scream influences every dream Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we've moved on But no way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the brink of forty-three Still searching for sanity, surveying the floor of his distorted sea He remembers high-school friends joking about the war Never knew what mom was crying for (Never knew what mom was crying for) The other piece that shines in his mind was a divine first love Sewn-made, beauty, brown-eyed queen he left behind He remembers holding her tight, watching the sunset at shore Never knew what she was crying for (Never knew what she was crying for) He got the letter in the mail by the middle of his summer Wouldn't have had to go if it wasn't for his newborn brother He was barely eighteen, murdering people even younger And he still ducks and covers every time he hears the thunder He still hears the screams, smells the flesh, tastes the death Sees the blood, feels the pain, what's to gain, nothing's left But the slug that remains in his right calf The bullet laughs every time he cries, and it drives him mad Trying to sleep, but the visions give him a cold sweat The war's been over for two decades, but he still hasn't been home yet And every day he waits and strains to supress his guilt And forget the horror and the violence; the "kill or be killed" Fists, they always clenched; teeth, they always grinding Real life is lost and in a bottle he tries to find it "It's not fair," he mumbles through a nightmare Only in a fight for two years and wound up spending his whole life there (Chorus) He was face to face with the devil for the welfare of his country Now he's straining to live but his conscience won't let him It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see He left the war, but the war never left him, see He left the war, but the war never left him, see He left the war, but the war never left him, see He left the war, but the war never left him, see He left the war... It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the edge of a park bench He asked God for hope and found his source non-existant He sits in the shadows, because the sun burns no more Now he knows what mom was crying for (Now he knows what mom was crying for) I used to watch old man in the park The sights slowly drove fright through my heart Wishing I could help but not knowing where to start I'd walk away, curse the world, gush some love and curse some more Now you know who I've been crying for (Now you know who I've been crying For) He threw his medals in the river but they sunk alone Put shades on his eyes to hide it from the warzone in the sky He tried to slit his wrists about a month ago But he's seen so much death, he's scared to life of suicide If there was only some way he could escape this penitentiary Goals get bigger and figures it'll chase away his memory But the dreams only worsen, the scenes almost burst in He recalls how training took away his right to be a person Put a gun in his hand, left him to die for the land The plan was the murder of man (The plan was the murder of man) Politicians have a dispute to decide to send in troops But the truth is they just don't understand (They just don't understand) Now he's running out of time, and running out of energy But 'til the last day he will fight for the murder of his memories And although he never got rid of his dog-tags He still wishes they'd have sent his parents an American flag instead of him (Chorus) Sometimes gunfire is brighter than the sunshine And sometimes a child's scream influences every dream Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we've moved on But no way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen