Free

I wish I remembered the genesis of this song. I know a lot more about the veteran experience now than I did when I wrote this, but I think the complexity of the sentiment is still right.

Lyrics

I'd rather be lost on that cold and forgotten road
Than to be led with my head hanging down that right way home
At least I can see where I'm going and from where I've been
And to make up my own mind to say if I'll go that way again

A thousand miles of rusted track
I'd rather leave it home and never go back
Than to just give up and fade to black

I saw some old friends at the end of the V.A. Hall
Some battered and bent, some contend that they don't know me at all
We watch the T.V. endlessly, perhaps it's just as well
Than to roll in our chairs and declare that we gave them hell, gave them hell, gave them hell

When there's no one to watch my back
I'd rather go down while under attack
Than to hold my fire and fade to black

I've been around some, I suppose
I've seen the old ones lay in roses
You carry the weight of the world so low
Buried beneath the things we show is
Nothing but frightened children
Waiting for some new game we can win

I pray for the angry and hateful soldier
I hope I grow wiser as I grow older
And try not to hate those things I don't understand
And in the end I'll pretend I'm a better man, a better man, a better man

You can't avoid the simple fact
No matter what the pride or conscience you lack
There's no darker fate than to fade to black
A thousand miles of rusted track
I'd rather leave it home and never go back
Than to just give up and fade to black