Had a buddy named Jimmy Friends since we were young Got in trouble all the time He said I'll be just like my daddy I'm gonna join in the ARMY And leave this little town behind He went and signed up And they sent him to Korea Told me he lived dangerously Then I read it in the paper He was drowned in a river Out patrolling on the DMZ Ritchie was an angry kid Liked to talk tough Always itching for a fight He liked his cars fast And he liked a little smoke 'Cause he was always wound up tight He had a pretty girl They were always together Guess he was a one-woman man But he got mean when he was jealous So she told him goodbye Ritchie put a bullet in his head In this world we don't count for much Forgotten in our graves But we can all live on When they tell out stories And speak our names Billy was a small town boy in the city Wanderin' round aimlessly 'Til he got out on the road with us Where the drinks and girls and drugs were free It's the same old story You've heard it all before The ending is always the same Billy died all alone in that big old city With heroin in his vens In this world we don't count for much Forgotten in our graves But we can all live on When they tell out stories And speak our names The moral to the history If you're not for death or glory Live your live and keep movin' on Those who knew you will remember And keep your name alive They'll love you long after you're gone