Story of a soldier who came back from the war with wounded legs and a wounded spirit. He was "Decorated" and still loves his country but his "dreams have faded." PRO RECORDING
I was uncomfortable with the emotional extremes that the war in Afghanistan and Iraq has evoked. I found that my feelings were in a less well-defined area. That is also the sense I got from returning soldiers I spoke with. There is a line in the song when the soldier is feeding ducks at the lake that goes "I've shot a few of them in my days, now I'm leaving all the killing to somebody else." He still sees the necessity to fight evil, he's just done more than his share.
I was decorated in the war
Took some bullets, now I don’t walk too good no more
At least I made it on back home
Guess that’s a good thing, sometimes I’m not so sure
There are days that I can’t tell
If I’m colder than ice or hotter than Hell
I got plastic bones in my legs
I got a beautiful letter from the President
I was decorated
We all celebrated
But my dreams have faded
Feels like my life was wasted
I was decorated…
There’s a lake a few miles out of town
In the weekdays, you never see anyone
I usually sit there in my car
I blast my music, nobody says "turn it down"
And if my legs don’t hurt too much
I walk out to the water and feed the ducks
I shot a few of them in my days
Now I’m leaving all the killing to somebody else
I was decorated, etc…