[Verse 1]
Sand in his teeth
Black smoke in his lungs
Union Jack patch
Red stain on his thumbs
Letters from home
Folded
Creased
Creased again
He mouths their names
Then he sights
Then he aims
[Chorus]
For king
For blood
He walks into the fire
For wife
For son
He sharpens every wire
For home
For love
He’s drowning them in mud
He carves their names
In steel and in blood
[Verse 2]
Faces in scope
Just shapes through the glare
He counts them off
One breath
One blank stare
Button on his chest
Cold metal on skin
He traded his sleep
For the stories they spin
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
He stacks the dead
Like sandbags round his heart
He tells himself
This tears their fear apart
He pulls the blade
From someone’s father’s gut
Whispers “sorry”
Then shuts the door shut [low vocal register]
[Chorus]