He heard the quiet buzzin' of a fly
For a second he wasn't quite sure what it was
'Til it tickled his face and he opened his eyes
On a beach in the French summer sun
With sulphur in the air and smell of something worse
He leaned up on his elbow and looked around
Wiped some blood from his face and saw his buddy James
Mangled and torn apart on the ground
The medics got to him and he thanked God they did
He spent twenty-sеven days in a field hospital
Beforе the slow trip home to the States
Minus one leg, which still seemed impossible
He got a job sortin' mail in the Birmingham post office
Five days a week enough pay to get by
He met a beautiful girl through a mutual friend and
Eleven months later that girl was his wife
Well the nightmares were often and so vivid and real
He'd wake up screamin' a few times a week
She was patient and kind and stayed by his side
And in time he found a more restful sleep
And by the next year they had 'em a son
Who got drafted when he turned eighteen
He went off to fight but he came back whole
Met my mom and they had me
And I come from a long line of soldiers
And their blood's still flowin' through me
And they fought in fields in foreign lands
So I could be who I wanted to be
Well I broke the streak and I went to college
Instead of Kabul or Kuwait
Got my degree and I got hired to teach
Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Yeats
In a decent sized high-school outside of Atlanta
I did the best that I could
That's heady stuff for kids that age
But all in all I think I did some good
And I come from a long line of soldiers
Whose blood's still flowin' through me
And they fought in fields in foreign lands
So I could be who I wanted to be
He heard the quiet buzzin' of a fly
For a second he wasn't quite sure what it was
'Til it tickled his face and he opened his eyes
Then he died there in that French summer sun
And that girl he wouldda met sortin' mail back in Birmingham
She met a lawyer and they fell in love
So their story ends before it began
On that beach in the French summer sun
And that child she had, well that wasn't my dad
And I wasn't ever his son
So my story ends before it began
On that beach in the French summer sun
And I come from a long line of soldiers
Whose blood flowed into the see
And war took more than just one life
It took him and his son and me