Private First Class Songtext

von Kevin Devine & The Goddamn Band

Private Manning standing in a court room
Pleading guilty; he shouldn't have to
Truth be told, he should be floating down
Parade routes
But - the truth WAS told, and what good
Did that do?

If it was you,
You might wish you'd been born a liar
A coward

His conscience barked as he watched
Our Apache
Cowboy-kill civilian Iraqis
Their laughter rolled like tanks over bodies
He thought: "What if everyone could see
What I see?"

If it was you,
You might wish you'd been born a liar
A coward

9 months in a hole
3 years in a cage
For having a soul
The American way

If it was you,
You might wish you'd been born a liar
A coward
And not a hero