“Letters I Don’t Send” Verse 1 Boots hit dirt on a cold sunrise Drill Instructor's voice cut through the sky Had a past life, left it behind Traded everything for a different fight Dog tags hanging, steady chest Learned real quick how to live with less “Hurry up and wait,” we’d laugh in line Half our days just killing time Chorus We were young, we were wild, we were built to stand With the weight of the world in a rifle hand Yeah we laughed through the pain, through the dust, through the heat Just a band of brothers no one could defeat But some names don’t make it back again And I don’t know how to face their friends Or the ones back home still wondering when… So I write letters I don’t send Verse 2 Foreign roads and a desert sky Silence loud when the nights go by Every shadow made your heart race Never knew what was a safe place “Fortune favors the strong,” we’d say Like a promise just to make it through the day But some days strength don’t feel like enough When you’re writing names you can’t make up Chorus We were young, we were wild, we were built to stand With the weight of the world in a rifle hand Yeah we laughed through the pain, through the dust, through the heat Just a band of brothers no one could defeat But some names don’t make it back again And I don’t know what I’d even say to them To a mother or a father who lost their son… So I write letters I don’t send Bridge (this is where it really hits) I’ve started a thousand times with “Dear Ma’am” Tried to explain things they won’t understand How he laughed, how he fought, who he was to us But the words fall apart when it’s not enough Who am I to try to explain Why he’s gone and I still remain? So I fold it up, and I just pretend It’s better left unsent Final Chorus We were young, we were wild, we were built to stand Did the best we could with the cards in hand Yeah we gave everything we had to give For the ones back home and the lives they live But some names don’t make it back again And I carry that weight ‘til the very end For the families who’ll never hold them again… All these letters I don’t send