We don’t fight like that

You sat down heavy in that old bar chair
Same look you wore back over there
Eyes like smoke from a battlefield
Carrying ghosts you never healed

You said brother I’m worn down thin
War followed me back home again
Every night it kicks the door
I don’t think I can fight it anymore

Your hands were shaking with that glass of rye
You wouldn’t even look me in the eye

I said that’s not how we fight
We didn’t make it through hell just to lose tonight
We held the line when the sky fell down
When the world was fire all around
Brother you ain’t alone in this war tonight
I’m right here standing in the fight
When the dark comes knocking on your life
That’s not how we fight

You said the silence is the loudest sound
Ever since we made it back to town
No convoy dust no radio calls
Just memories walking through these halls

Said you’re tired of the pain you hide
Tired of burying friends inside
Said maybe peace is a trigger away
Maybe that’s the price some soldiers pay

I grabbed your shoulder before you could fall
Said listen close before you make that call

That’s not how we fight
We didn’t survive those endless nights
Carrying brothers through gunfire rain
Just to surrender to this pain
Brother you ain’t alone in this war tonight
I’m right here standing in the fight
When the dark comes knocking on your life
That’s not how we fight

Remember Ramirez singing off-key loud
Harris laughing just to calm the crowd
Those boys we lost they’d raise some hell
If they knew you were ringing that bell

They didn’t fall so you could go
They’d tell you stand up take it slow
The war may follow but hear me say
You don’t face that fight alone today

That’s not how we fight
We hold the line till morning light
When the weight of the world won’t move an inch
That’s the moment soldiers clinch
Brother you ain’t alone in this war tonight
Your six is covered in this fight
And if you stumble in the night
I’ll carry you till morning light

So put that darkness on the shelf
You carried me I’ll carry you myself
We made a promise back in that life

We don’t quit
We don’t run

And that’s not how we fight.

Dark country soul whiskey