Back home Indiana
We just learn to get along
Civilized and socialized
They teach you right from wrong
How to hold your liquor
and how to hold your tongue
How to hold a woman
or a baby or a gun
But nothing will prepare you
for the far Afghanistan
You can listen to their stories
and pick up what you can
You listen to their stories
maybe read a book or two
Until they send you out there,
man you haven't got a clue
Oh, the Hindu Kush,
the Band-e Amir, the Hazara..
They tell you a tradition
in the hills of Kandahar
They say young boys are taken
to the wilderness out there
Taken to the mountain
alone and in the night
If he makes it home alive
they teach him how to fight
They fought against the Russians,
they fought against the Brits
They fought old Alexander,
talking 'bout him ever since
And after 9/11
here comes your Uncle Sam
Another painful lesson
in the far Afghanistan..
I was ready to be terrified
and ready to be mad
I was ready to be homesick,
the worst I've ever had
I expected to be hated
and insulted to my face
But nothing could prepare me for
the beauty of the place
No matter what they tell you
all soldiers talk to God
It's a private conversation
written in your blood
The enemy's no different,
badass holy wind
That crazy bastard talks to God
and his God talks back to him
We just learn to get along
Civilized and socialized
They teach you right from wrong
How to hold your liquor
and how to hold your tongue
How to hold a woman
or a baby or a gun
But nothing will prepare you
for the far Afghanistan
You can listen to their stories
and pick up what you can
You listen to their stories
maybe read a book or two
Until they send you out there,
man you haven't got a clue
Oh, the Hindu Kush,
the Band-e Amir, the Hazara..
They tell you a tradition
in the hills of Kandahar
They say young boys are taken
to the wilderness out there
Taken to the mountain
alone and in the night
If he makes it home alive
they teach him how to fight
They fought against the Russians,
they fought against the Brits
They fought old Alexander,
talking 'bout him ever since
And after 9/11
here comes your Uncle Sam
Another painful lesson
in the far Afghanistan..
I was ready to be terrified
and ready to be mad
I was ready to be homesick,
the worst I've ever had
I expected to be hated
and insulted to my face
But nothing could prepare me for
the beauty of the place
No matter what they tell you
all soldiers talk to God
It's a private conversation
written in your blood
The enemy's no different,
badass holy wind
That crazy bastard talks to God
and his God talks back to him
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