Whatever happens now
Is beyond my control
Emotion has abandoned me,
Faded away and left me….cold
The call’s been made
I’m here, dependent on the atmosphere
contained inside this mask I wear.
My breathing is all I here.
I’ve got the target switch in hand.
I just feel numb, scanning the
ground at the hell that I’ll make.
I’m above it in the air.
Flying high above the city walls
as the insurgents run.
Can’t stand their ground against the hell
that I’ll make.
I’m above it in the air.
I see it all so clear…
At 30,000 feet above the enemy.
No one can see me.
Press execute.
I’ll send the “Pigs” away.
The tortured painful cries
Will never fall upon my ears
And never stain my elder years.
My heartbeat is all I’ll feel.
Infrared tracks the land
As the weapons lock.
There’s no defense against
The Hell that I’ll make.
I’m above it in the air, I’m above it.
Moving past the speed of sound,
I won’t see them when they hit the ground.
No hiding from the Hell that I make.
I’m above it in the air.
I’m a shadow.
Over the rooftops of the city he word
Travels fast from cell phone to cell phone.
“They demand to see their faces!”
“Of the women…hidden behind the veil?”
Flaming oil blackens the sky.
I don’t know why…their hate is the
Reason for the Hell that I make.
I’m above it in the air, I’m above it.
Gazing down at the burning land
I’m the creator of this new “Promised Land.”
And I wonder.
What the hell did I make?
I’m above it in the air. I’m above it.
What the hell did I make?
Is beyond my control
Emotion has abandoned me,
Faded away and left me….cold
The call’s been made
I’m here, dependent on the atmosphere
contained inside this mask I wear.
My breathing is all I here.
I’ve got the target switch in hand.
I just feel numb, scanning the
ground at the hell that I’ll make.
I’m above it in the air.
Flying high above the city walls
as the insurgents run.
Can’t stand their ground against the hell
that I’ll make.
I’m above it in the air.
I see it all so clear…
At 30,000 feet above the enemy.
No one can see me.
Press execute.
I’ll send the “Pigs” away.
The tortured painful cries
Will never fall upon my ears
And never stain my elder years.
My heartbeat is all I’ll feel.
Infrared tracks the land
As the weapons lock.
There’s no defense against
The Hell that I’ll make.
I’m above it in the air, I’m above it.
Moving past the speed of sound,
I won’t see them when they hit the ground.
No hiding from the Hell that I make.
I’m above it in the air.
I’m a shadow.
Over the rooftops of the city he word
Travels fast from cell phone to cell phone.
“They demand to see their faces!”
“Of the women…hidden behind the veil?”
Flaming oil blackens the sky.
I don’t know why…their hate is the
Reason for the Hell that I make.
I’m above it in the air, I’m above it.
Gazing down at the burning land
I’m the creator of this new “Promised Land.”
And I wonder.
What the hell did I make?
I’m above it in the air. I’m above it.
What the hell did I make?
inviata da Alessandro - 31/7/2009 - 08:20
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Album "American Soldier"
"This song is about a pilot and his experience, which is very different from ground personnel. Pilots have a very different perspective on things, a very different job." He added: "The song deals with this particular soldier's feelings of being separate from the devastation he is inflicting. He's above it all, flying 30,000 feet in the air, dropping bombs on targets. He's not involved in hand-to-hand ground combat. He said that it's a strange feeling to know that you've just wiped out an entire city with a touch of a button, and then you're back at the base, watching reruns of a TV show. It's just another day at the office. There's no emotional attachment to it like a guy who was in a platoon and may have lost buddies. The pilot is dealing with a whole different set of issues that are a lot harder to define...
I wrote this song, and then months later I got a chance to play it for Lynn, the pilot whom I wrote it about. We have it on camera. He was reading it, and tears were running down his face. I asked him what moved him, and he said the line, 'The tortured, painful cries will never fall upon my ears, and never stain my elder years. My heartbeat is all I'll feel.' He was disconnected from it all at the time, but now he thinks about it regularly."
Geoff Tate