Lyric

Smoky bar at the edge of town

I light one up, and I drink it down

Ain’t got a job, ain't got no plan

Just a busted watch and these calloused hands

Folks say I’m just a bitter old fool

But I was young once, played by the rules

Then Uncle Sam came knockin' my door

Sent me off to fight their goddamn war

Whiskey and the war took it all from me

Left my dreams bleeding overseas

I came back home but I never returned

My soul still burns in a Saigon sun

And no one cares, no one sees

I'm just a ghost in faded fatigues

Jenny wrote once, then disappeared

Mama cried dry, then she stopped the tears

The country moved on, shiny and proud

While I sit here drowning out the sound

Whiskey and the war took it all from me

Left my youth buried deep in the sea

They gave me medals I threw away

Can’t pin ‘em on the scars I hide each day

A hero's name, but a beggar’s fate

Too late now, it's all too late

I ain’t askin’ for your pity, kid

Just pass the bottle and let me sit

You can’t rebuild what war erased

And no one’s gonna give me back those days

Whiskey and the war, my only friends

They saw me break and watched me bend

No parade, no flag, no song

Just a man too broke to carry on

If I could go back, I swear I’d run

From the day they handed me that gun