Issued a Flag, Came Home to Ash

[Intro – Spoken / Distorted Sample, 0:00–0:20]  
“They taught me how to fight… not how to come home.”

[Verse 1 – 0:20–0:50]  
Boots in the sand, name on my chest  
Learned real fast how to bury the rest  
Orders screamed through desert nights  
Freedom paid in broken lives  
I watched kids bleed for a map on a wall  
Heard God real clear in a mortar call  
They said “you’re heroes, don’t ask why”  
So I swallowed rage and learned to comply  

[Pre-Chorus – 0:50–1:05]  
Now I’m back in a country I don’t recognize  
Same blood on the streets, just different lies  

[Chorus – 1:05–1:35]  
You issued a flag, I came home to ash  
Shaking hands with ghosts I couldn’t save  
You wave it high, but you never ask  
What it costs to keep it that way  
I fought your wars, I paid the tax  
With a mind that never sleeps  
Don’t thank me for my sacrifice  
If you won’t look at what you keep  

[Verse 2 – 1:35–2:05]  
They clap at games, then they look away  
When the uniform fades and the checks don’t pay  
Medals don’t stop the panic shakes  
Or the bottle that helps me stay awake  
I hear fireworks, I hit the floor  
Still fighting battles from a foreign shore  
They scream “support the troops” online  
But won’t stand still when I’m losing mine  

[Pre-Chorus – 2:05–2:20]  
I bled for colors on a TV screen  
Now I’m just another problem you’ve seen  

[Chorus – 2:20–2:50]  
You issued a flag, I came home to ash  
Promised the world, delivered pain  
You call it honor, I call it cash  
Traded our lives for political gain  
I’d do it again for the ones beside me  
But not for thrones built out of bones  
This country taught me how to kill  
Then left me dying on my own  

[Bridge – 2:50–3:15]  
This ain’t anti-soldier  
This is anti-lie  
I’d lay down my life for my brothers  
Not for suits who never cried  
You don’t hear screams in boardrooms  
You don’t smell the burned-out streets  
You don’t wake up soaked in guilt  
Wondering why you still breathe  

[Breakdown – 3:15–3:35]  
WHO DO YOU THANK  
WHEN THE WAR COMES HOME  
WHO DO YOU BLAME  
WHEN WE CAN’T LET GO  
WHO PROFITS  
WHO PAYS  
WHOSE BLOOD  
BUYS YOUR DAYS  

[Final Chorus – 3:35–4:05]  
You issued a flag, I came home to ash  
Still love this place, that’s the curse  
I hate what it does to the desperate  
I hate how it eats us first  
If freedom’s real, then prove it now  
Not with words, not with praise  
Take care of the ones you trained to die  
When the war don’t fade  

[Outro – 4:05–4:25]  
I don’t need your pity  
I don’t need your spin  
Just don’t forget the cost  
When you send us in

metal, male