This is a song I wrote about a returning Viet Nam veteran who's life was forever changed by war. You can hear some of the song here and please feel free to listen to the others as well. The link: http://cdbaby.com/cd/maysey

This is My Rifle

This is My Rifle
Mark Maysey 1999

verse
Back in sixty nine, didn’t have a care
Before they called my number I chopped off all my hair
Said goodbye to Mama, Dad and Uncle Dan
Boarded and airplane and headed off for Nam

verse
He called us to attention as we stepped off the plane
Checked us off a list as he called out our names
Then he picked up his rifle and raised it in the air
Grabbed his crotch with his other hand, as we all stood and stared
He said…

chorus
This is my rifle, this is my gun
One is for killing’, the other’s for fun
So until this war is over, or until your time is done
This is your rifle and this one is your gun

verse
Thirty years have passed since I stepped of that plane
The nightmares haven’t ended and neither has the pain
I’ve drank my share of liquor and smoked my share of grass
But I can’t unload the memories or these few words from my past

repeat chorus

verse
A dear friend of mine finally called it quits
They found him one cold morning face down in a ditch
A bullet through his brain, his rifle at his side
And one old rusted dog tag from nineteen sixty nine

verse
When they turned his body over, they found his written note
It wasn’t but a few lines, but the last he ever wrote
And when they laid him in his grave on that cold December day
I took those words he’d written and I began to play

repeat chorus