Bull Run

I wanted to get in
before I missed the fun
the ladies looking at me
like I was the only one
oh the time I'd have
with my stories of war
and how I licked the rebels
and went back for more

Gallant charges on horseback
and using the bayonet
stopping to have my picture made
with nary a regret
the bloodied will all rise again
for a mural on a wall
and I'll bow and tip my cap
and catch every minnie ball

Of course this was before artillery
opened up on poor old me
and tore my body clean in two
the way it's built to do
what fools we were
to pray for war
now I'm just a frame
inside your drawer

When I look across Bull Run creek
I see much the same today
young boys ambushed with the flag
when they look the other way
I'm the ghost of old wars past
a grizzled vet by now
dying cures what ails you
no matter when or how

So when you hear the distant drums
and rich men beat their chests
and then cower in their bunkers
after sending all the rest
seek not the marble men
who have come before
and caused so many mothers
to drip tears on the floor

Of course this was before artillery
opened up on poor old me
and tore my body clean in two
the way it's built to do
what fools we were
to pray for war
now I'm just a frame
inside your drawer

When I look across Bull Run creek
I see much the same today
young boys ambushed with the flag
when they look the other way
I'm the ghost of old wars past
a grizzled vet by now
dying cures what ails you
no matter when or how