DD214 Blues

I signed my life on that dotted line,

Chased the flag into the fire and grime.

Now I'm home where the silence screams,

And the war still plays in my damn dreams.

Got a folded paper sayin' I'm done,

But it don't erase the man with the gun.

They said "Welcome home, you made it through,"

But I left a part of me with that crew.

I got those DD Two fourteen blues,

Freedom's stamp, but I still pay dues.

One piece of paper that sets me free,

But chains me tight to my memories.

Yeah, I'm proud as hell, but I'm still confused,

Got those DD Two fourteen blues.

Traded boots for these worn-out jeans,

Still walk tall like an Army machine.

Clockin' in where the rifles ain't,

Tryin' to blend, but I know I can't.

The world moves on, I just stand guard,

Got battle scars where the suit runs hard.

That discharge date, it cuts so clean,

Like freedom bought, but it cost my team.

I got those DD Two fourteen blues,

Freedom's stamp, but I still pay dues.

One piece of paper that sets me free,

But chains me tight to my memories.

Yeah, I'm proud as hell, but I'm still confused,

Got those DD Two fourteen blues.

I still hear boots on the broken ground,

Echoes of brothers who ain't around.

That rattle of rounds still in my chest,

You can leave the war, but it don't rest.

Now I'm building up a brand-new fight,

Serving brothers who lost their light.

Still got that fire in my veins,

Just changed the target, not the aim.

Yeah, I got those DD Two fourteen blues,

Ink and ashes, red, white, and bruise.

That paper says my war is through,

But I still bleed red, white, and true.

Yeah, it's pride and pain, they both cut through—

That's the DD Two fourteen blues.

The only paper that can make a man both proud...

and lost.