Soldiers Get Strange

(album: Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - 2009)

You want her to try new things
She reminds you she wears your ring
and after a couple drinks she's a little scared of you
A good friend is hard to find
You wish you could spend more time
towing civilian lines, but they're all scared of you

It's not the time that makes it go bad
It's not the thought of what you could've had
It's not the way that her figure has changed
It's just that a soldier gets strange

You know she's a real good girl
She reminds you that every curl
that whips in the wind of the world
is watched by the eyes of God
But lately your mane's gone white
You itch in your veins in the night
Before you "came home alright"
you wielded the lightning rod

It ain't the time that makes it go South
It ain't the liquor that burns in your mouth
Nearly nothing around here's changed
It's just that a soldier gets strange

She turns off the lights so you can't see her body
You can't make her fight when you know that you're wrong
They call you a hero, so many still fighting
This ain't where you belong

Maybe you'll re-enlist
It couldn't be worse than this
But think of the things you'll miss
If you're inside the wire again

It's not the dreams that keep you up late
It's not the world you saw incinerate
It's not the way that her figure has changed
It's just that a soldier gets strange
Most of all you got strange