On the road to Basra stood young Lieutenant Jimmy Bly   Detailed to go through the clothes of the soldiers who died   At night in dreams he sees their souls rise   Like dark geese into the Oklahoma skies      Well this is a prayer for the souls of the departed   Those who've gone and left their babies brokenhearted   This is a prayer for the souls of the departed      Now Raphael Rodriguez was just seven years old   Shot down in a schoolyard by some East Compton Cholos   His mamma cried "My beautiful boy is dead"   In the hills the self-made men just sighed and shook their heads      This is a prayer for the souls of the departed   Those who've gone and left their babies brokenhearted   Young lives over before they got started   This is a prayer for the souls of the departed      Tonight as I tuck my own son in bed   All I can think of is what if it would've been him instead   I want to build me a wall so high nothing can burn it down   Right here on my own piece of dirty ground      Now I ply my trade in the land of king dollar   Where you get paid and your silence passes as honor   And all the hatred and dirty little lies   Been written off the books and into decent men's eyes