The Deserter's Song

Skies black, cold and vacant now
I sat on the hillside
The stars up above me
Like pinholes in velvet
I listened to the song
That I hoped I'd never hear

And off behind me
Guns snap like insects
We're fighting for causes
We don't really fathom
But we'll charge ahead
Bloodied hands feed the flames

Their guns all rain down
Say your prayers, fall and run
This is do or die this time
Raise your fist, give 'em hell boys
Let's make them wish they'd never lived

My eyes locked with a boy on the other side
Hands dropped, he stood defenseless
But he wasn't frightened
His face was accepting
But I couldn't pull
I couldn't pull, I couldn't pull

And I could see it clear
To fall was not my fear
To make one fall was

And the chaos returned
I backed into the trees
Left my guns on the ground
Wiped the mud from my knees
And I knew in my heart that
My old life was gone
That in walking away, my name was undone
So I might as well run

Parts and bones and strings of secrets
Cut the ties that bind me
I might dream myself as king
But I ain't made for ruling