He said, “Son,
                 
Have you see the world?
                    
Well, what would you say
                    
If I said that you could?
                                       
Just carry this gun and you’ll even get paid.”
                            
I said, “That sounds pretty good.”

              
Black leather boots
               
Spit-shined so bright 
                                   
They cut off my hair but it looked alright
                  
We marched and we sang
               
We all became friends
              
As we learned how to fight

          
hero of war
                      
Yeah that’s what I’ll be
                  
And when [bad word] home
                        
They’ll be [bad word] proud of me
                 
I’ll carry this flag
                  
To the grave if I must
                          
Because it’s flag that I love
                    
And a flag that I [bad word] 

                 
I kicked in the door
                
I yelled [bad word] 
                     
The children, they cried
            
But I got my man
              
We took him away
              
bag over his face
                        
From his family and his friends
                    
They took off his clothes
                   
They [bad word] in his hands
                
I told them to stop
              
But then I joined in
                 
We beat him with guns
                     
And batons not just once
               
But again and again

          
hero of war
                      
Yeah that’s what I’ll be
                  
And when [bad word] home
                        
They’ll be [bad word] proud of me
                 
I’ll carry this flag
                  
To the grave if I must
                          
Because it’s flag that I love
                    
And a flag that I [bad word] 

                             
She walked through bullets and haze
                
I asked her to stop
                
I begged her to stay
               
But she pressed on
               
So I lifted my gun
             
And I fired away
                             
The shells jumped through the smoke
             
And into the sand
                       
That the blood now had soaked
                              
She collapsed with a flag in her hand
               
flag white as snow

          
hero of war 
                  
Is that what they see
                  
Just medals and scars
                
So [bad word] proud of me
                       
And I brought home that flag
                
Now it gathers dust
                       
But it’s a flag that I love
                     
It’s the only flag I [bad word] 
                                 
He said, “Son, have you seen the world?
                                             
Well what would you say, if I said that you could?"