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The Iron Man
Lyrics
The orders came
The midnight rain
Was driving down the window pane
They rose like cattle
Mesquite rattle
Showed them green and new to battle
Out on the road, the mud knee-high
The tortured trucks were slithering by
Toward the ruptured, shattered sky
They strove, it hardly mattered why
We find our hero in the mud
We guess the fever in his blood
We try as he to laugh at this
The iron man whom bullets missed
He's right, the song has just begun
We'd never kill a man so young
He's right, the song has just begun
We'd never kill a man so young
The sergeant, how they loathed his guts
He led them down the wagon ruts
One truck is stalled, the drivers curse
It's either ambulance or hearse
The air grows foul, the heavy stench
Is seeping from the ancient trench
He takes his place and laughs at this
The iron man whom bullets missed
He's right no matter how they try
The song's too young for him to die
He's right no matter how they try
The song's too young for him to die
The orders came
The midnight rain
Was driving down the window pane
They rose like cattle
Mesquite rattle
Showed them green and new to battle
Winter came early to the house on the hill
Frost, wind and snow
The builders looked at its unfinished frame
Then turned to go
A small foundation, a pile of sand
A rusty hammer in a cold, cold hand
It wasn't the big house that they planned
But winter came early and winter came hard
Winter was death to the house on the hill
Frost, wind and snow
Warped its timbers and cracked the foundation
Then turned to go
The sketch was crumpled in a cold, cold hand
The hammer buried in the pile of sand
The builders' thoughts were of virgin land
When winter came early and winter came hard
Spring was puzzled by the house on the hill
Gave it flowers and climbing vines
Small boys played on the pile of sand
Plastic weapons in their eager hands
It wasn't the big house that they planned
But winter came early, winter came hard
The young lieutenant, new to war
Is sick upon the trenches' floor
The sergeant, how they cursed his head
Is suddenly quite cold and dead
The deafening explosions cease
Become a cruel burlesque piece
The whistle blows, the charge is made
He's right, he's young and brave and strong
Just the kind to fill our song
He's right, he's young and brave and strong
Just the kind to fill our song
Was driving down the window pane
Showed them green and new to battle
Frost on the blankets in the strong boys' room
Heat for the sissies, for the prep school pansies
Ice cold showers for the cool platoon
Once a month the kinds of mama
Wipe that smile off and shine your brass
Grab your ankles and I'll give you twenty
Drop that rifle and I'll have your ass
Once a month the kinds of mama
The quadrangle's sleeping
Town girls love it in the picture shows
Save the dances for the hometown ladies
Save five dollars for the one who knows
Once a month a card to mama
Grab your ankles for the old cadets
Drop your trousers and you'll get what's coming
Is there more to this than you're quite sure of?
The Quadrangle's sleeping
The Quadrangle's sleeping
The whistle blows, the charge is made
The young lieutenant screams out loud
The bullets hum like a startled crowd
The young lieutenant screams and falls
The iron man runs up the walls
And blows the enemy a kiss
The iron man whom bullets miss
He's right, the man whom bullets miss
Is meant for something more than this
He's right, the man whom bullets miss
Is meant for something more than this
Is driving down the window pane
Angie, from where I stand
The water breaks on the spit of sand
The sand is tired and ready to go
But you, so ready to leave
The first trembling leaf to break loose in the fall
Is there time to ask why?
Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
Angie, if Angie's your name
Angie, from where I stand
Your smile is so discreetly planned
You'll notice me, you'll turn and go
That you, so ready to leave
The first trembling leaf to break loose in the fall
Is there time to ask why?
Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
Angie, if Angie's your name
Angie, I was getting along
Nothing quite right, but nothing too wrong
I didn't know you existed
I ran my life like a safe machine
Lost myself in a safe routine
With my hand on the knife
Angie, from where I stand
You rise and wave an ungloved hand
He calls to you, the light is dim
And you're gone, so ready to leave
The first trembling leaf to break loose in the fall
Is there time to ask why?
Or is there nothing hidden I can blame?
Angie, if Angie's your name
The battered fort is ours again
It only cost ten thousand men
And when a young lieutenant dies
Some survivor has to rise
So like a humble prayer of thanks
The iron man goes up the ranks
The man whom bullets miss goes far
He wins a kiss and wears a star
And he's right, a man who lives through that
Deserves a star upon his hat
He's right, a man who lives through that
Deserves a star upon his hat
And now the nation cheers his name
And politicians play his game
He's coaxed and shrewdly follows fate
Until he's leader of the state
The peace grows dull, the pace too slow
At last he finds convenient foe
The Congress balks, the galleries hiss
The iron man whom bullets miss
But he's right, the man whom bullets miss
Is meant for something more than this
He's right, the generals fanned their guns
And Congress turns and Congress runs
He's right, the nation shouts his thanks
The young men run to join the ranks
He's right, his name is in their blood
While huddling in some foreign mud
The orders came, the midnight rain
Was driving down the window pane
They rose like cattle, musket rattle
Showed them green and new to battle
Play me the tap, the quadrangle's sleeping
Here in this rack, my roommate is weeping
Someone is weeping, I'll be all right