Dad's Gonna Kill Me
Richard Thompson Lyrics

Out in the desert there's a soldier lying dead
A dead soldier lies in the sand, forgotten and alone.

Vultures pecking the eyes out of his head
The vultures, scavengers of the land, are feeding on the remains of this soldier.

Another day that could have been me there instead
It's just another day in the life of a soldier who is aware of the risks of the job.

Nobody loves me here
Soldiers are alone in the battlefield with no emotional support.

Dad's gonna kill me
The soldier is worried about disappointing his father and failing to come back home alive.

You hit the booby trap and you're in pieces
One wrong move and a soldier could be blown up in an instant.

With every bullet your risk increases
As the shooting continues, the chances of getting hit by a bullet and dying increases.

Old ali baba, he's a different species
The enemy is dehumanized and the soldier has to fight them as if they're animals.

I'm dead meat in my humv frankenstein
In the war machine, soldiers are just bodies waiting to be destroyed.

I hit the road block, somehow I never hit the mine
By some miracle, the soldier was lucky to avoid the bombs that were set to kill them.

The dice rolled and I got lucky this time
Surviving the war is based on chance, and this time, luck was on the soldier's side.

I've got a wife, a kid, another on the way
The soldier knows the weight of his own mortality and the family he has waiting for him.

I might get home if I can live through today
The only thing on the soldier's mind is surviving the present moment.

Before I came out here I never used to pray
The soldier has become religious since being sent off to war, praying for protection and a safe return.

Woo, dad's in a bad mood, dad's got the blues
The soldier's father is upset and worried about his child being in danger.

It's someone else's mess that I didn't choose
The soldier was drafted into a war they didn't start or agree with.

At least we're winning on the Fox evening news
The media maintains a positive narrative about the war, despite the casualties and harm caused by it.

Dawn patrol went out and didn't come back
Some of the soldiers who went out on a mission did not return alive.

Hug the wire and pray like I told you, Mac
The soldier offers advice to a fellow trooper to stay close to the fence and pray for their safety.

Or they'll be shovelling bits of you into a sack
It is a gruesome reminder that the end result could be just body parts filling bags.

Who's that stranger walking in my dreams?
The soldier is haunted by the thought of death, which takes shape in his nightmares.

Whose that stranger cast a shadow 'cross my heart?
The shadow of death looms in the heart of the soldier.

Who's that stranger, I dare speak his name?
Death is taboo and the soldier doesn't want to speak about it, but it's always at the back of his mind.

Must be old death a-walking
The soldier personifies death as something alive and walking among them.

Seven muzzle monkeys standing in a row
The term is dehumanizing and it is how the soldier describes a group of enemy soldiers.

Standing, waiting for the sandbox to blow
The enemy soldiers are waiting to die in the desert battlefield.

Sitting targets in the wild west show
The soldiers are easy targets who are likely to get shot, just like in a western movie.

Another angel got his wings this week
The Angel of Death is a constant visitor, and another soldier has died.

Charbroiled with his own willie pete
The soldier was burned to death with a white phosphorus grenade, and the sight was too gruesome for the soldiers to forget.

Nobody's dying if you speak double-speak
Politicians use deliberately ambiguous language to avoid taking responsibility for the war's casualties.