Tom: Am INTRO: Am G (4x) Am C G I was proud to be the soldier I had been since '83 Am F E When I joined to pay for college, like my brothers before me Am C G I was proud to serve my country and to be a fine Marine Am F E Am G Am G But pride cannot protect me from the things that I have seen Am C G When they shipped us out of Norfolk, my family came to wave Am F E My Mama stood there choking back the tears and looking brave Am C G And though we never spoke of it, we all feared it just the same Am F E Am G Now they tell me I should talk about the things that I have seen F G Am I was trained to take the good shot, I was trained to clean my gun F Em F They trained me not to talk back and they trained me not to run Am C G And I was trained to be as silent as the shadow of a hawk Am F E Am G Am G No one trained me for the silence of the things that I have seen Am C G And once I saw an accident on Old Route 17 Am F E Mama told me not to look at it, as we slowly passed the scene Am C G Though the image of that wreckage was burned into my brain Am F E Am G That did not prepare me for the things that I have seen F G Am I thought I was a good man, I thought I was elite F Em F I thought I'd fight the good fight, that I'd never see defeat Am C G And that we'd won that bloody war, how we laughed at their retreat Am F E Am G Now I wage a losing battle against the things that I have seen INSTRUMENTAL: Am G (7x) Am C G Just be glad modern science has given us so much Am F E We can rifle through the channels without ever standing up Am C G But I can't find a station that's finally had enough Am F E Am G Of this morbid fascination with the things that I have seen Am F E F G And me, I can't stop dreaming of these things that I have seen