SECOND-PLACE HERO                     

S D Kennedy

1976

I met a lovely lady,   

An angel I am sure,

With a smile so disarming,   

And a heart so heavenly pure.

She knew that I had waged a War,                                                    

And of my Earthly stand,

And when I asked her to walk with me                       

Throughout life hand in hand,

She said,

“I would ask you to take a seat                                                                      

But your boots are caked in mud,

And I would ask you to come in and eat,

But you washed your hands in blood.”

Now I’m a second-place hero,                                                           

Coming home from a senseless war,             

Getting my face pushed into place,                                        

Behind that revolving door.

Yeah, I’m a second-place hero,

Score left at one to zero.                                                                                                        

And they say,

“We would ask you to take a seat                                                      

But your boots are caked in mud,

And we would ask you to come in and eat,    

But you washed your hands in blood.”

When we gave away that war,    

I fell down on the floor,

It left my soul empty,    

So I bolted my door.

Now I’m the one catching the blame;   

The one with the sullied name…

The one who has to pay the toll, 

Every time they call that roll.

They say,

“We would ask you to take a seat

But your boots are caked in mud,

And we would ask you to come in and eat,

But you washed your hands in blood.”

I did as I was told by that Great Soldier Sam,

And I followed the lead,

Like a good Christian Lamb.

I can see it now at Heaven’s Gate,

When Jesus calls me to my fate,

Will He say,

“I would ask you to take a seat

But your boots are caked in mud,

And I would ask you to come in and eat,

But you washed your hands in blood.”

***                   

Or will He say,

“You tried to free a people     

As your boots were caked in mud.

Come in, sit down and eat at my table:

I washed you in my blood.

You sacrificed for freedom,

As your boots were caked in mud,

But you can sit down and eat with me,

Because I washed you with my blood.

I washed you with my own blood.”