Flak Jacket

Written by Sid Griffin

I'm a St Paul's squarehead in this jar of a hole

On a rainy Nicaraguan night

I'm a scared little soldier from New Orleans

Holding his rifle tight

I'm a tough luck joker in some deck o'cards

Playing to win with might

I'm a veteran from the Falklands just here to help out

Hoping the dice roll right

We're in a ditch by the side of the road hoping to get out of the fight

Our spirits churn as we watch our jeep burn some kids got a hell of a sight

You can talk about your Spartas and your civil wars

Your civil disturbance that grows

Your Peloponnesians or the Basques in Spain

The terror some people know

'Cause there ain't much worse to be lying in dirt

Listenin' while your life's on hold

Though the gasoline burns as the night still turns

We're getting quite a good show

Say what you want about my country here shakin' a velvet hand

I wanna get home where the buffalo roam it seems a happier land

I got my flak jacket tighter than the skin of a snake

It's keeping me together as well

I got a helmet and some rations and a heart in my throat

I'm hoping nobody can tell

The tempo often changes in these brotherhood wars

The conductor's head can swell

They sent me off to battle, I ain't sure of myself

I think I hear tolling bell

The flames fly high as I see the sky start to form a friendly face

I pull my flak jacket tighter as I reach for my lighter

I want to get out of this place

Published by Coal Train Tunes/Bug Music Ltd