Blood and Tattoos

Blood and Tattoos 

Black ink like my heart

Covers my skin 

Covers my scars

Brings me back again

To all those dreams

That became my lies

Another day 

Another life

Blood and tattoos 

Whiskey and you

The pain it hurts

But it keeps me true

I'd try to forget

But I can't undo

This blood and tattoos

Whiskey and you

The years have passed

And your still there

In my mind 

In my stare 

I drive all night

I drive all day 

I try and I try

But I can't escape

Blood and tattoos 

Whiskey and you

The pain it hurts

But it keeps me true

I'd try to forget 

But I can't undo

So it's blood and tattoos

Whiskey and you

The birds they sing

Of a brighter day

So I get them tattooed

To carry me away

But not to you

Cause I know the truth

Dreams they really don't come true

It's blood and tattoos 

Whiskey and you

The pain it hurts

But it keeps me true

I'd try to forget

But I can't undo

This blood and tattoos

Whiskey and you

Yeah it's blood and tattoos

And memories of you 

Cadences

Oh mama mama can't you see

What the Army's done for me

They made me, not me

They changed me

You can't see me

You don't know me

There is no me, only we

What kind of soldiers are there?

The quick and the dead

What are you? The quick!

What are they? The dead!

The cadence stays the same

As they drill death into your head

Death of the enemy

Death of your friend

Death of your mother

Death of your lover

Death of your self

But in the end the only real death is your innocence 

Left right left right left right kill

Left right left you know I will

Trained to kill 

Kill a father

Kill a sister

Kill a haji 

Kill anyone that gets in your way

But bit by bit, soldier by soldier, we keep killing ourselves as well

And for what or for who

How does the green grass grow

Blood blood blood drill sergeant 

Who's blood

Our blood

The poor's blood

A farmers blood 

Innocent blood

But not the blood of the rich

Nor the blood of a politician

C130 Rollin down the strip

Recon scouts on a one way trip

They said fight for your country

Fight for the flag

Fight for your brothers

Fight for patriotism

They don't care what you fight for 

Just that you do

And they'll use your death so others can fight too

If I die in a combat zone

Box me up and ship me home

Pin my medals upon my chest 

Tell my mama I did my best

Or maybe tell her the truth

That I died for a bullshit war

That I died so some asshole could get rich

That I died in vein

That I died when I enlisted 

That I died before I went to war

And I'll never come back, even if I live

Desert Love

As the leaves quake

A wind whispers across the sky

The sunrise takes shape

Reds, yellows, oranges 

God's paintbrush, man's passion

Dreaming beyond the horizon 

New lands, new sunsets

Forever moving forward

The stream flows until it is dry

The savagery of the desert consumes all

But life flourishes in death

Darkness gives way to light

And all begins anew

Like me and you

Current state of affairs...

Years of fear have brought us here

Anger grew to hate

No one listens, no one talks 

Now we fear our fate

Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles

We're all torn apart

Everything we're supposed to love

We somehow have forgot

Until we listen we will not know

What others talk about

Stop the brain stop the pain

And listen with your heart

The walls must fall that divide us all

That keep us far apart

Bridges heal, bridges grow 

Give us a new start

So stop the tears, and stop the fears

We need something new

Building love, building trust

building what is true

So take my hand we'll march together

Fight to live a new forever

Here for you, here for me

Here for all those that will be

And when we win, they will know

We fought with all our heart and soul

Fought for justice, Fought for life

Always fighting for what's right

New Website

So I have a new website... Mostly for my academic profile, but I also have a blog over there as well and will likely use it more than this one. Check it out here: www.ben-schrader.com

Whiskey Blanket

I'd like to drown in the shadows
But the whiskey keeps me afloat
I wish you weren't in every god damned thought
It's its own darkness
It's my own curse
And every day it just gets worse
So I drink to stay alive
Drink to forget
At the end of the day, the drinks all I get

Cause I yearn to live, but long to die
With every drink, I try and try
To drown you out, but still I sink
Cause about me, you no longer think
So I return to the one thing that I know
My whiskey blanket that keeps me warm

The bottom of a bottle is where I'll be
But please don't feel sorry for me
Cause I paved my road
I made my bed
Someday soon I hope to make my amends

And I yearn to live, but long to die
With every drink, I try and try
To drown you out, but still I sink
About me, you no longer think
So I return to the one thing that I know
My whiskey blanket that keeps me warm

Now I awake, cold and alone
My head hurts and you're still gone
So I drag myself back to the pub
Knowing now, that I fucked up
And one more drink, is not enough

Now I yearn to live, but long to die
With every drink, I try and try
To drown you out, but still I sink
Cause about me, you no longer think
So I return to the one thing that I know
My whiskey blanket that keeps me warm

The Bullet and the Gun

The bullet and the gun, copper and steel, the squeeze of the trigger, the rush of adrenaline.

We're taught the bullet and the gun is an extension of us, reach out and touch someone they say.

In Iraq, the bullet and the gun was a way of life, here it most surely means my death. 

Over there the bullet and the gun plays politics with innocent lives, while at home the innocence lost is realized.

In war it is a shame when the bullet and the gun go unused, in peace it is a tragedy when it is.

The bullet and the gun, once so easy to use, now seems like an only option. 

I once felt safe with the bullet and the gun, now their coldness dangerously caress my lips. 

I thought the bullet and the gun was to protect them, but now I think it is to end to the misery I have caused them. 

22 brothers and sisters find refuge in the bullet and the gun everyday, I fight everyday to not be one of them.

And yet the bullet and the gun calls like a siren in the night, tempting to be used while screaming "why" to the flashing of red and blue lights.

The bullet and th...