[Intro]
(solo bugle)
(slow marching snare cadence)
[Verse 1]
Sixteen years ago I raised my hand
Sea bag packed, a younger man
Grandma cried while Grandpa stood
Quiet like old soldiers would
I swore someday I'd make him proud
Come back home and talk out loud
His war, my sea, two distant skies
Two soldiers meeting eye to eye
[Verse 2]
Two long years before I came
But the man I knew had slipped away
Dementia took the words he knew
Left shadows where his memory grew
He walked up slow, didn't speak
My daughter sleeping on my wife's shoulder
My heart stopped hard beside those stairs
Not sure what man was standing there
He bent down soft, kissed her head
Then turned away… no words were said
(snare roll building, distant bugle)
[Chorus]
I thought I'd stand there in my dress blues
Raise my hand and honor you
One last salute for the man I knew
But time marches on like soldiers do
A Colonel's blood in sailor's cloth
Still chasing words we never got
I owed you one last salute
But life gave silence in its place
[Verse 3]
Family talking late that night
About the only time he'd fight
Someone slighting Grandma's name
Or boys tearing through his vineyard lane
Martini glass slipped from his hand
As he ran them off his land
That fire still burned somewhere inside
Even when the rest had died
That's when someone finally said
“Your granddad served… a Colonel's thread.”
[Bridge]
(snare cadence building, low piano, distant bugle echo)
Snow was falling hard that night
Driving through a blizzard white
Phone rang cold against my ear
Words I never hoped to hear
Orders said keep moving on
Leave was done, the moment gone
No turning back, no final stand
No salute from this sailor's hand
(snare drum crescendo, full band swell)
[Final Chorus]
I thought I'd stand there in my dress blues
Raise my hand and honor you
One last salute for the man I knew
But time marches on like soldiers do
A Colonel's blood and sailor's oath
Different roads but honor both
I owed you one last salute
So I carry it the rest of my days
[Outro]
(distant bugle fading)
(soft snare taps like a fading cadence)
SilentPayload