Bang the Drum Slowly

For our fallen...

I meant to ask you how to fix that car
I always meant to ask you about the war
And what you saw across a bridge too far
Did it leave a scar

Or how you navigated wings of fire and steel
Up where heaven had no more secrets to conceal
And still you found the ground beneath your wheels
How did it feel

Bang the drum slowly play the pipe lowly
To dust be returning from dust we begin
Bang the drum slowly I'll speak of things holy
Above and below me world without end

I meant to ask you how when everything seemed lost
And your fate was in a game of dice they tossed
There was still that line that you would never cross
At any cost

I meant to ask you how you lived what you believed
With nothing but your heart up your sleeve
And if you ever really were deceived
By the likes of me

Bang the drum slowly play the pipe lowly
To dust be returning from dust we begin
Bang the drum slowly I'll speak of things holy
Above and below me world without end

Gone now is the day and gone the sun
There is peace tonight all over Arlington
But the songs of my life will still be sung
By the light of the moon you hung

I meant to ask you how to plow that field
I meant to bring you water from the well
And be the one beside you when you fell
Could you tell

Bang the drum slowly play the pipe lowly
To dust be returning from dust we begin
Bang the drum slowly I'll speak of things holy
Above and below me world without end

- Bang the Drum Slowly, Guy Clark/Emmylou Harris

This is one of my favorite Emmylou Harris songs... she wrote it after the death of her career military father. You can listen here free (you need Rhapsody but it's a free, easy and very quick download) or if you already have Rhapsody the direct link is here. The lyrics (and the voice and phrasing) are worth the listen.

And it's a good time to remind you that not all combat wounds are visible... and that not all combat deaths are those on the battlefield...

Copyright 2007 Some Soldier's Mom. All rights reserved.

PS Hugs & kisses to Robert & Vinny and the rest of Our Guys... thinking of you with Love.