Sometimes gunfire's brighter than the sunshine   Sometimes a child's scream influences every dream   Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinkin' we've moved on   But no way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen      No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen   No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen   No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen   No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen      It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the brink of fourty-three   Still searchin' for sanity, surveyin' the floor of his distorted sea   He remembers high-school friends jokin' about the war   Never knew what Mom was cryin' for      The other piece that shines in his mind   Is the divine first-love soul-mate beauty brown-eyed queen he left behind   He remembers holdin' her tight, watchin' the sunset at shore   Never knew what she was cryin' for      He got the letter in his mail by the middle of his summer   Wouldn't have had to go if it wasn't for his new born brother   He was barely eighteen, murdering people even younger   And he still ducks and covers every time he hears the thunder      He still hears the screams, smells the flesh, tastes the death   Sees the blood, feels the pain What's to gain?   Nothing's left but the slug that remains in his right path   The bullet laughs every time he cries, and it drives him mad      Trying to sleep, but the visions give him a cold sweat   The war's been over for two decades, but he still hasn't been home yet   Everyday he wakes and strains to repress his guilt   And forget the horror, the violence, the kill-or-be-killed      Fists are always clenched, teeth are always grindin'   Real life is lost, and in a bottle he tries to find it   "It's not fair", he mumbles through a nightmare   Only in the fight for two years, and wound up spendin' his whole life there      He was face to face with the devil for the "welfare" of his country   Now he's strainin' to live, but his conscience won't let him   It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see   He left the war, but the war never left him, see   He left the war, but the war never left him, see   He left the war, but the war never left him, see   He left the war, but the war never left him, see   He left the war      It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the edge of a park bench   He's asked God for help, but found his source non-existent   He sits in the shadows, 'cause his sun burns no more   Now he knows what Mom was cryin' for      I used to watch old man in the park, the sight slowly drove right   through my heart   Wishin' I could help, but not knowin' where to start   I'd walk away, curse the world, gush some love, and curse some more   Now you know who I've been cryin' for      He threw his medals in the river, but they sunk alone   Put shades on his eyes, to hide him from the war zone in the sky   He tried to slit his wrists about a month ago   But he's seen so much death, he's scared to life of suicide      If there was some way to break him out of this penitentiary   Gulps get bigger and figures it'll chase away his memories   But the dreams only worsen, the scenes almost burst in   He recalls how training took away his right to be a person      Put a gun in his hand, left him to die with the land   The plan was the murder of man   Politicians have a dispute, decide to send in troops   But the truth is, they just don't understand      Now he's runnin' out of time, and runnin' out of energy   But till the last day, he'll be fighting for the murder of his memories   And although he never got rid of his dog-tags   He still wishes they'd have sent his parents and american flag (instead of him)      He was face to face with the devil for the "welfare" of his country   Now he's strainin' to live, but his conscience won't let him   It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see   He left the war, but the war never left him, see   He left the war, but the war never left him, see   He left the war, but the war never left him, see   He left the war, but the war never left him, see   He left the war      Sometimes gunfire's brighter than the sunshine   Sometimes a child's scream influences every dream   Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinkin' we've moved on   But no way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen      No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen   No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen   No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen   No way, no how, do we ever forget what we've seen