The Soldier & the Boy (9-1-2016) [Live in Madison]

(Album: i was born in detroit on a very very very very very very very cold day - 2018)

I heard the story of the soldier and the boy
Not too long ago, there was a soldier in Afghanistan
And he's about 6 months into his campaign
And he's really struggling, he's in and out of combat every day
He was drinking a lot, and he keeps hearing from these towns people that there's this boy
There's this magical boy, and he's, he's meditating under a tree
And most of the time he hears it, he says, "Ah, that's a bunch of bullshit"
But one night, he's especially missing home, and he's drinking, and he thinks, "I'm gonna go find this fucking boy under the tree"
So he climbs up the mountain, and sure enough
There's a little kid, maybe 10 or 11 years old
And he's sitting under the tree cross-legged with his eyes closed
And the soldier says, "Hello"
The boy doesn't move
The solider starts to get mad
He said, "You don't know. If you know so much, teach me about Heaven and Hell."
The boy opens his eyes slowly, and he says, "You want me to teach you about Heaven and Hell?
Look at you. You smell bad. You're not a real soldier. You got dip in your mouth, you reek of alcohol, you're drunk
I can't teach you about Heaven and Hell."
And the soldier's getting madder and madder
The veins in his neck are starting to poke out
He takes his revolver out, and points it at the boy's head
And the boy says, "That's Hell."
The soldier realizes this boy has just sacrificed his life
He put it on the line to teach him
He puts the gun down and starts to cry, and the boy says, "That's Heaven."
My name's Mike Posner, we're The Mike Posner Band, thank you, guys