29 Palms

I thought I'd join join the army
 'Cause Dad liked shooting guns
 It's hard enough to please a man
 Damned if you're his son
 I sweated every mile
 In the concrete and the sun
 They shaved my head
 And wrote my name next to machine gun
 I aced the test, they told me
 I'd stay behind the lines
 But there's no such thing as errors
 When the command decides
 They moved me to the barracks
 In palm 29
 We were taught to fire to the rhythm
 Of die mother fucker die
 Well there's only two places
 The Joshua tree belongs
 The gates of heaven
 And Twentynine Palms
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 If you've come to find a brother
 Brother you're insane
 Is a man in a turban
 A man just the same
 Blow his ass to hell
 And don't complain
 The wind always whistled
 I forgot the sound of rain
 I finally went for help
 But help can't be sought
 They pumped me full of pills
 And called it suicidal thoughts
 Three months in the ward
 They said the paperwork got lost
 Son, you're just 18
 You don't know what you want
 Well there's only two places
 The Joshua tree belongs
 The gates of heaven
 And Twentynine Palms
 ♪
 Now I'm back on the couch
 In Daddy's old place
 I stay up all night gaming
 And I sleep through the days
 He's happy to have me home
 He calls it grace
 I'm 21 years old
 I can't look a man in the face
 It's easy to stay bitter
 When there's somebody to blame
 But I enlisted
 I signed my own name
 Dad still goes out shooting
 And invites me just the same
 There's a man in a room somewhere
 Who thinks it's just a game
 The ghost of 29
 The grand inquisitor
 He pours scotch whiskey
 For every senator
 He says the people don't want freedom
 They want bread and sugar
 I hope the devil writes your name
 Next to machine gunner
 There's only two places
 The Joshua tree belongs
 The gates of heaven
 And Twentynine Palms