They took three hundred brothers to the Georgia pines
Gave 'em a needle and a bottle of lies.
Said "Serve your country, stand up tall,"
But they were just the shadows against the wall.
The serum burned like a fever dream
While the brass was quiet and the needles were clean.
One by one, the brothers fell away
Until only Isaiah was left to stay.
They gave him the shield, then they gave him a cage
They ripped his name from the history page.
A hero in the dark, a legend in the chains
With the blood of a soldier flowing through his veins.
The stars and stripes don't fly for everyone
When you’re fighting a war that’s never done.
Oh, Isaiah, the truth is a heavy load—
The forgotten king of a broken road.
He went behind the lines to set his people free
A one-man army across the sea.
He did what was right, he did what was brave
And his only reward was a nameless grave.
They didn't want a savior with skin like mine
So they locked him up to wither on the vine.
Thirty years of silence, thirty years of stone
While the world cheered a man on a white-bread throne.
You can’t bury the sun and expect no light
You can’t keep a good man out of the fight.
He wasn't a ghost, he wasn't a myth
He was the anvil the legacy was hammered with.
Look at the scars, look at the eyes—
That’s the price of the "American" prize.
They gave him the shield, then they gave him a cage
They ripped his name from the history page.
A hero in the dark, a legend in the chains
With the blood of a soldier flowing through his veins.
The stars and stripes don't fly for everyone
When you’re fighting a war that’s never done.
Oh, Isaiah, the truth is a heavy load—
The forgotten king of a broken road.
Now the statue is standing in the hall of the brave
But the secrets are still crying out from the grave.
Tell the boy... tell the world...
We were here.
We were always here.
