[Verse 1] Eighteen years old, packed and ready, Sent to fight for reasons unsteady, Mothers wave goodbye at the station, Not knowing this might be their last conversation.
[Verse 2] Tell me who gets rich while young men die, Who sits in comfort while families cry, Those who start wars never hold the gun, Never see the damage their words have done.
[Chorus] Empty victory, what did we gain, Empty victory, nothing but pain, Count the cost in broken dreams, Nothing's ever what it seems, Empty victory, we all lose, When violence is the path we choose.
[Verse 3] Letters home grow shorter every week, Until the mailbox stays forever bleak, Folded flags can't fill the dinner table, Where a son will never sit stable.
[Chorus] Empty victory, what did we gain, Empty victory, nothing but pain, Count the cost in broken dreams, Nothing's ever what it seems, Empty victory, we all lose, When violence is the path we choose.
[Verse 4] One war ends, another one starts, The cycle continues and breaks more hearts, Children grow up hearing tales of glory, Never learning from the same old story.
[Verse 5] Somewhere there's a world we've never tried, Where enemies can sit down side by side, Where young men build instead of tear apart, Where wisdom guides both head and heart.
[Chorus] Empty victory, what did we gain, Empty victory, nothing but pain, Count the cost in broken dreams, Nothing's ever what it seems, Empty victory, we all lose, When violence is the path we choose, Empty victory, there's another way, Choose peace starting today.
[Verse 6] Think of all the songs they'll never sing, All the joy that peace could bring, If we could find another way to solve, Problems that our hatred can't resolve.
