Twenty-One Guns

Jamie's going off to war tomorrow
 Trading in his shovel for a big old gun
 Time to stand up time to be a man
 Putting the trigger in his right hand
 But she needs you now she can't do it herself
 Forced to put her dreams and her future on the shelf
 Think of your wife your child on the way
 She don't wanna be a widow at his young age
 We hear the sounds of bombs dropping
 It's ringing in our ears and we can feel it when you're falling down
 Twenty-one guns fired in the middle of the night
 Twenty-one guns were blazing in the thick of the fight
 Twenty-one guns one shot for every year of his life
 Reaching for the courage to pull you through
 But your back's up against the sharp edge of the knife
 We're hanging ribbons of gold on the trees in the yard
 And your thoughts are with us no matter how far you are
 We're always here with you
 And it kills us inside knowing there's nothing we can do
 Bad news strikes the girls left alone
 Left to raise her child and fend for her own
 Another family that's torn by war
 Another soldier's face down in the dirt