Um, I wrote this song just before I went to Iraq. Not my best, but...

BONFIRE

my clothes are wet
soaked in my blood, tears, and sweat
i toss them aside like a rag
and wipe myself off with the flag
so many have died
for the blue, red and white
i dont wanna be the next sacrifice
i dont wanna be the next murdering soul
an assassin playing a heros role
so i drop down to my knees
and i pray to a god though i dont believe
and i pray for forgiveness here today
though this blood on my hands wont wash away
the banner waves
over the hills and over the graves
of the men who died in youth
for the flag that once stood for truth
white for the fights
and the hands that weve dealt
blue for the sadness that the families have felt
red for the blood that we all have shed
the flag flies proudly over the dead
so i drop down to my knees
and i pray to a god though i dont believe
and i pray for forgiveness here today
though this blood on my hands wont wash away
there was a time that i thought that i was doing right
to grab my m16 and go and start a fight
to kill all those who dare oppose the u-s-of-a
but now i know that i should not be thinking that way
i should be smothering the mind control the government has
try to make up for the mistakes that ive made in the past
try to figure out the answers and the meaning of life
pick up a pen and paper drop my nine and my knife
tell the kids that war is stupid and can never be won
because peace cannot be brought on by the shooting of a gun
so im taking off my dogtags and unlacing my boots
and my dcus are going in the bonfire, too
the public needs to know that i wont do this anymore
we need to stop this stupid damned piece of crap war
so i drop down to my knees
and i pray to a god though i dont believe
and i pray for forgiveness here today
though this blood on my hands wont wash away

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
slight editing

[edit on 27/11/06 by masqua]

I like the lyrics...no doubt about it. Lyrics that come from the heart are always the most powerful and these have a strength of conviction earned through hard experience.

But I need to caution all writers in these two rather special forums that the T&C's still apply because, even though we are a bit more relaxed to encourage heartfelt writing, it is still ATS.

I'm not going to edit anything you write just now, but I want you to think of a relative of yours who has children. Now think of their youngsters coming upon the words you pen in here, knowing you as uncle so and so who fought in Iraq.

That's how I steer myself when I post anywhere in ATS...because I know my sons, their wives and children, may be reading them long after I'm dead.

Just a thought

Yeah, I figured somebody would say something. Thanks for reading my lyrics and I promise I won't post anymore with profanity. You can edit my post or delete it, that's fine. (As if you need my permission.) I'm gonna post one of mine that doesn't have profanity now to try and make up for my blatant disregard for the T&C's.

Well, I sure wouldn't delete the posts, because you have talent...that's obvious. No way do I want to discourage you at all.

But I might do some tiny edits later.

All I'm asking is for you to try to keep it clean for my grandchildren

You might think about the title. How about "The mind of a soldier", just a thought the rest was excellent. I didn't see any profanity so that must have been edited. What ever was edited seems to be for the better.

Originally posted by Royal76
You might think about the title. How about "The mind of a soldier", just a thought the rest was excellent. I didn't see any profanity so that must have been edited. What ever was edited seems to be for the better.

Based on the rules of songwriting, you're absolutely right: this title just doesn't work. I always have a hard time coming up with titles, because I hate the titles that I come up with when I use the "rules of thumb" of naming a song. I named this song "Bonfire" because to me, the most important part of the song is where "my DCUs are going in the bonfire, too", because it's a metaphor for me of revolutionizing my own beliefs. I'm also a big fan of one-word titles, though I've strayed from that on a song I just wrote which I named "In Which I Become An Atheist". I loathe that title, but it's the best I could come up with. Anyway, once again, thanks for your advice.

[edit on 24/3/07 by an3rkist]