Iraq

(album: Rifles & Rosary Beads - 2018)

I was an army mechanic
I worked with the men
I worked on my back
I tried to fit in
Talked wrenches and ratchets
Multi-meters and scales
Grease on my face, grease on my hands
Grease under my nails

And it was so hard to see
Till it attacked
But my enemy
Wasn't Iraq

Soldiers bartered and traded
That's the way our world worked
Trading favors for favors
In the sand and the dirt
What I wouldn't give them
They tried to take
And when I refused them
They made me pay

And it was so hard to see
Until it attacked
But my enemy
Wasn't Iraq

I stood my ground
I didn't give in
I drew a line
Again and again
When they whistled and whispered
When the wind kicked up dust
I'd look to the sky, ask the Lord why
I have no one to trust?

And it was so hard to see
Until it attacked
But my enemy
Wasn't Iraq
A salute and a wink
A little pat on my back
My enemy
Wasn't Iraq