There's a purple heart on the stars and stripes tonight
It's pinned to the chest of the latest liar
And if you try to speak your mind
They tell you keep it to yourself

You got friends in the armed forces
They wanna know which side you're on
Doesn't matter 'cause we'll all be off

To train, to fight
Disregard our human rights
To play the part
The conscience of the damned

You say you're defending me
I'm sick of tying yellow ribbons
Praying not to see

Another folded flag to a mourning lover
He was an army of one but they'll find another
And in the fold of the body bag
Somebody check for a heart

You got friends in the armed forces
Now we know what a soldier costs
It's the cost of the rest of us

To take a life, we all have our price
The wife and kids sleep soundly in their beds
You say you're defending me
I'm untying yellow ribbons
On every single tree I see

They'll float like butterflies back home
And I can feel the desert's heat
When you're standing next to me
Friendship offers no relief

Stay with me now, just hear me out
Don't wanna lose you to that great black [bad word] down, you see in the path a bullet makes
When it calls you by your name
And the medic can't play the rhythm of your heart

So it starts to fade like footsteps in the march
The parade passes by our fingertips
As lives once were right

To change our minds
Everything that's wrong looks right
The lives we lead
Are somewhere in between

You say you're defending me
I'm sick of tying yellow ribbons
Praying not to see, we're not going to [bad word] [bad word] rings around a wishing well