We Carry Names

Lyrics

[Verse 1] A photograph folded in a field jacket seam A name on a letter, a half-finished dream The river kept moving past burned-out days While families waited through seasons of change [Pre-Chorus] Across the water, across the years We carry names, we carry tears [Chorus] Let the silence make room for the ones who came home For the ones who were lost, for the ones left alone No flag can erase what the families knew We remember the cost, and the lives pulled through [Verse 2] Saigon at the turning, the radios ran late A mother kept supper beside the front gate Far from the headlines, the small things remained A school bell, a doorway, a child's given name [Pre-Chorus] Across the water, across the years We carry names, we carry tears [Chorus] Let the silence make room for the ones who came home For the ones who were lost, for the ones left alone No flag can erase what the families knew We remember the cost, and the lives pulled through [Bridge] When the old letters fade and the stories grow thin May we listen more closely to where they begin Not to glorify sorrow, not to settle the score But to learn what the living are still asking for [Final Chorus] Let the silence make room for the ones who came home For the ones who were lost, for the ones left alone No flag can erase what the families knew We remember the cost, and the lives pulled through [Outro] Across the water, across the years We carry names, we carry tears