Bronze Dog Tags

Lyrics

[Verse 1] I came home in a box of dust With a nameplate bent and bruised Mama cried at the front door screen Like she knew what the hallway knew I can hear that desert noon In the pipes when the house goes still Boots on tile like a second storm And my heart won't hold its fill [Pre-Chorus] Don't ask me what I saw I can't lay it down in words I still dive for the floorboards When a car backfires on the curb [Chorus] I'm a long way from there But there ain't no peace in here Bronze dog tags Cold on my chest I came back I came back But some nights I never left [Verse 2] There’s a scar where my wedding band Used to spin in the sun Lost my ring to a hospital sink And a year I can't outrun My son keeps his voice too low When he slips past my chair He learned the shape of my bad days By the look I wear [Pre-Chorus] Don't turn on the news I don't need that ghost parade One more siren in the distance And I'm back in the sand-storm haze [Chorus] I'm a long way from there But there ain't no peace in here Bronze dog tags Cold on my chest I came back I came back But some nights I never left [Bridge] I've got a sky full of faces That won't fade out of my head I've got hands that still reach for a rifle When the house goes dark in bed If I flinch, don't call it weakness If I shake, don't call it shame I'm a man split clean in the middle Trying to answer to my name [Final Chorus] I'm a long way from there But there ain't no peace in here Bronze dog tags Cold on my chest I came back I came back But some nights I never left I came back I came back And I'm still trying to rest