DEFEATER LYRICS

1. The Red, White, And Blues

That whiskey burns going down
Old man pour me another round
Cause it's my last night in town
And I ain't thinking of slowing down.
No, I am fixing to drown

Till I see the sun or I can't see
Cause I got the blues and the blues got me
I'm gonna make my momma proud
Her boy on the front lines
And just like my daddy done
I ain't afraid to die.

I ain't afraid to die.
I ain't no fortunate one
But I'm proud of what I've done.
Hardships, I've seen some
I ain't a coward I don't turn and run
I don't turn and run.

So I stumble home
Pack up my old memories
Pictures of ma
My daddy's flask she gave me
Keep it near your heart
She would always say
It's all he left
And that's where it'll stay.
And her leatherbound
Book of psalms and prayers
She would always read
With patience and care.
A short walk to the cemetery
To pay respects before I leave
1901 to 1943
I run my fingers through her name
And the effigy.

The sun is up
It's all I see
Cause I got the blues
And they still got me.
Yeah they still got me
I'm gonna make my momma proud
Her hopeful new recruit
And just like my daddy done
I'm gonna bleed red, white and blue
I'm gonna bleed red, white and blue
I'm gonna bleed red, white and blue
I'm gonna bleed red, white and blue
I'm gonna bleed red, white and blue

2. The Bite And Sting

I've spent days in this trench in the snow
Just my gun by my side.
It's cold and wet and you're all alone
Up keeping watch at night.

The bite and the sting
The bitter cold brings
Reminds you that you're still alive
The hope and the pride
That we all hold inside
Seems to break when another boy dies
The bite and the sting
The bitter cold brings
Makes you wish that you weren't still alive
The hope and the pride
We all hold inside
Seems to break
Seems to break.

We ain't seen no germans for days
We're just tired and sore
And it feels like I'm wasting away
So I drink from my flask to stay warm.
Every bomb miles away
Every faded engine cry
Still makes your heart start to race
Keeps you praying at night.

It's too quiet and too calm
For something not to be wrong
So we sit as brothers in arms.
So we wait and we shake
Hear the roar of the tanks
And the gunfire of the oncoming storm.
The ring in our ears
And the cold rush of fear
Overtakes us with the enemy in sight.
I stagger, but don't falter
I aim and pull the trigger
And we fight, we fight, we fight.

But it all happens too fast
The blur of the sweat in my eyes
For every man killed
Seems 2 of my friends fall to die
I'm down on my knees
Feel the pain in my gut
And the snow is covered in blood.
Crawl to my captains side
With his head on my knees
Says "see to it that my grave is kept clean"

Awake in a hospital bed
Just rows and rows and rows of dying kids.
And I know
That my whole
Infantry is dead.

3. A Wound And A Scar

I stand next to an empty grave
Where my friends will lay
I'll put their bodies down
Into their resting place.
Got a purple heart
For a wound and scar
They just send letters home
That broke the families apart.
The paulbearers burden
As heavy as my hearts hurting.
All the pain and guilt
My head is pondering.
Why them and not me?
Why them and not me?
Why?
Did you ever hear that coffin sound?
Means another poor boy is in the ground.
Have you ever heard them church bells toll?
Means another poor boy is dead and gone.
Have you ever heard that coffin sound?
Means another poor boy is in the ground.
The preachers preach, only folded flags
And the mothers mourn, holding folded flags.
Just caskets and folded flags.
Just caskets and folded flags.
No hope, just folded flags.
No hope, just folded flags.
No hope
No hope
No hope
No hope

4. Home Ain't Never Home

I'm wandering these streets alone
They don't feel like home
This once hallowed ground
Feels like a ghost town now
I'm on the street corners everyday
At night I drink it away.
And this flask that saved my life
Might be the death of me.

And no man in this city
Will take a chance on me
The color of my skin
Is all they see.

I was a hero when I came home
Now no one seems to know
And that medal that I received
Means nothing to me
I keep reading my momma's prayers
I find nothing in there
That makes any sense to me.

Her god
Is no more
Than a thief.

Gonna pack up
Gonna leave town
On a train car
Headed north bound
I'm gonna leave
I'm gonna leave.
With my lost hope
I'm gonna get out
Carry burdens,
Carry my guilt
I'm gonna leave

Carry burdens
Burdens
Burdens
My burdens
I watched the good men fall and brave boys die
Hearing soldiers sob in the dead of night
Every poor young soul that dies in vain
Every soldier lost in this country's name
I carry guilt and my shame
No pride and no name
Just burdens
Burdens
My burdens
My burdens

My guilt and my shame
No pride and no name
Just burdens

5. Singin' New York Town

My savior, this city,
My comfort, her pity
Or so I hoped.
My heartache, my hard luck,
My war time, my struggle
That no one knows.

In the allys where I sleep
I beg and beg for the food I eat
All the pain and the hurt
In your gut where it burns
Every man here is just like me.
The wind blowing round the snow
Makes a man freeze straight to the bone
So I drink and drink and I try not to think
Of the people I lost at home

These six strings I'm playing
These songs I'm singing
Keep me alive.
These strangers
That curse me
The hero
They don't see
Just waiting to die

I ain't the man that I used to be
I feel the city as it's crushing me
I am losing ground on these empty streets
New York town has got the best of me
The southern ground where my mamma sleeps
She found death and she found peace
There's an empty grave next to where she lay
That's where I'm supposed to be.

I beg and I plead
For her god to hear me
He's just a coward
Just a thief
I pray and I pray
For him to answer me
I hear nothing
I hear nothing
I beg and I plead
For her god to hear me
I hear nothing
Nothing

6. Beggin' In The Slums

I ain't been sleeping well these days
I lie awake listening to the trains
Wishing for one of them
To come take me away
Lost my way every place I've been
Tired of thinking of all the hurt I've seen
Wishing for death
To finally take me.

My days are all the same
On the corners I beg and plead
I blow my lungs out
For some strangers change
The nights are long and cold
Under bridges where you're all alone
Embers of the fire build
Like drifts of snow

I've been thrown out
I've been let down
Never felt a promise
Of this town
That it was supposed to be
When I left home
I am washed up
On my last breath
Just an old man
With nothing left.
It ain't the way it was supposed to be
When I came home.

My ups and my downs
Have burnt me out
These people watching me
The swan song that I sing
And in the crowd
I feel the eyes
That have been broken down
Just like mine.
I hope these words dig deep
I hope he's listening
He sees what I've become
Just a broken man begging in slums
I found my hope
Finally found my hope
In the poor lost souls eyes
That were burning just like mine.





DEFEATER LYRICS