“Still Standing Watch”

Intro – spoken over soft military snare, distant bugle, and slow steel guitar]

Before the sun comes up,

Before the coffee’s poured,

Before the flag starts waving

Outside some small-town store…

There’s a soldier lacing boots

With home heavy on his mind,

Leaving everything he loves

So we don’t leave freedom behind.

He was raised on a gravel road,

With a flag on the porch rail,

Daddy taught him right from wrong,

Mama taught him how to pray.

He traded Friday football lights

For a uniform and boots,

Said, “I don’t need no glory,

I just got a job to do.”

And when the world gets heavy,

And freedom’s on the line,

There’s somebody’s son out there

Standing in the night.

He’s still standing watch,

Under red, white, and blue,

With a picture in his pocket

And a prayer he’s holding to.

He’s the reason we sleep easy,

The reason bells still ring,

The quiet kind of hero

Who don’t ask for anything.

He’ll lay it all down

If that’s what freedom costs,

While we’re home tonight,

He’s still standing watch.

He misses birthdays, Christmas mornings,

Little league and wedding days,

Hears his baby say “I love you”

Through a cracked-up video frame.

He writes letters when he’s lonely,

Keeps his Bible by his bed,

And when fear comes marching in,

He bows his tired head.

He ain’t made of iron,

No, he feels the pain,

But courage ain’t the absence of fear,

It’s standing there anyway.

He’s still standing watch,

Under red, white, and blue,

With a picture in his pocket

And a prayer he’s holding to.

He’s the reason we sleep easy,

The reason bells still ring,

The quiet kind of hero

Who don’t ask for anything.

He’ll lay it all down

If that’s what freedom costs,

While we’re home tonight,

He’s still standing watch.

He’s seen the smoke at sunrise,

He’s heard the bullets sing,

Held a brother while he whispered,

“Tell my kids I did my thing.”

He’s got scars that don’t stop bleeding

When the battlefield is gone,

But he still stands for that flag

When they play that soldier’s song.

He don’t brag about the battles,

He don’t talk about the cost,

But you can see it in his eyes—

He remembers who we lost.

For every folded flag,

For every mother’s tears,

For every empty chair

That’s been silent through the years,

We lift our hearts in honor,

We remember every name,

’Cause freedom ain’t just given,

It’s carried through the flame.

They’re still standing watch,

Under red, white, and blue,

From the desert dust and ocean waves

To the skies they’re flying through.

They’re the reason we sleep easy,

The reason church bells ring,

The brave ones and the fallen

Who gave us everything.

They’ll lay it all down

If that’s what freedom costs,

So raise that flag a little higher,

For the ones we almost lost.

While we’re home tonight,

They’re still standing watch.

Yeah, while we’re home tonight…

Some soldier’s still standing watch.