Mark Erelli - Volunteers

I played with ^Carmy men as a ^Fboy in my back^Cyard I was eighteen when I joined the National ^GGuard I ^Fcakewalked basic, and they paid for my ^Cdegree All for ^Ffilling up sandbags and clearing storm de^Gbris

And I had ^Amjust re-upped on the ^Fbase in my home^Ctown When the whole deal changed on the day that the planes went ^Gdown Just a ^Emcasual soldier, twelve weekends a ^Fyear I was Baghdad ^Cbound when they called ^Gup the volun^Cteers ^{F Am G}

We’d seen ^Cmore than enough to ^Fknow war is ^Chell But we were thinking that we had it made once the capital ^Gfell So we ^Fpartied in the palaces and waited to with^Cdraw 'Til ^Fthings started going south both sides of the ^Gwall

First the ^Amlooting, the suicide ^Fbombers and the IE^CD's Then the prisons and the torture and all those pictures on T^GV The ^Emkickbacks, the blackouts, the martyrs and the ^Ffear And now ^Ceveryone in Babylon ^Gblames the volunt^Ceers ^{F Am G}

There was a ^Croadside bomb on a ^Fconvoy late one ^Cnight I was fine, but this buddy of mine probably should have ^Gdied So they ^Fradioed a medevac and I tried to keep him ^Cwarm Now he’s back ^Fhome learning how to feed himself with two new ^Garms

And all the ^Amothers, they suffer from ^Fwounds that you can’t ^Csee So they try to forget and go back home to their jobs and their fami^Glies Yeah we got ^Empaid, no one made us come over ^Fhere But it ain't ^Cclose to an even ^Gtrade for the volunt^Feers

Maybe we’ll ^Call be judged by ^Fhistory and ^Cgod Maybe the best way to honour the departed is to finish the ^Gjob But while they ^Fargue who is winning and whether we should go or ^Cstay Over ^Fhere it’s a victory just to make it through another ^Gday

And me I’m ^Amlong past making any ^Fsense of the blood I've ^Cspilled But it's hard to believe this is all part of any God’s ^Gwill And if you ^Emfind I’ve fallen after all the smoke has ^Fcleared Let the record ^Cshow^G I volunt^Ameered Let the record ^Cshow^G I volunt^Ameered