I see you've found a box of my things
Infantries, tanks, and smoldering airplane wings
These old pictures are cool, tell me some stories
Was it like the old war movies?
Sit down, son
Let me fill you in
Where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo don't capture the skin
From the flash of a gun to a soldier who's done
Trust me, grandson
The war was in color
From shipyard to sea, from factory to sky
From rivet to rifle, from boot camp to battle cry
I wore the mask up high on a daylight run
That held my face in its clammy hand
Crawled over coconut logs and corpses in the coral sand
Where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo don't capture the skin
From the shock of a shell or the memory of smell
If red is for Hell
The war was in color
I held the canvas bag over the railing
The dead released with the ship still sailing
Out of our hands and into the swallowing sea
I felt the crossfire, stitching up soldiers
Into a blanket of dead, and as the night grows colder
In a window back home, a Blue Star is traded for Gold
Oh, where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo don't capture the skin
When metal is churned
And bodies are burned
Victory earned
The war was in color
Now I lay in my grave at age 21
Long before you were born
Before I bore a son
What good did it do?
Hopefully for you
A world without war
A life full of color
Where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo never captured my skin
Once it was torn from an enemy thorn
Straight through the core
The war was in color
Where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo never captured my skin
From the flash of a gun to a soldier who's done
Trust me, grandson
The war was in color
Trust me, grandson
The war was in color
Trust me, grandson
The war was in color
Ay, ay-ay-ah
