Song Description

A short but bloody firefight has lifelong ramifications for those who survived and made it home

Lyrics

The air is thick with burning, smoke still clawing at our lungs,
And the ground is torn to pieces where the last shots rang and stung.
We're crouched behind the rubble, hearts still pounding from the run,
Trying to understand how we survived when others didn't make it home.

Their helmets lie abandoned where they fell into the dirt,
And the silence hits like thunder when the shouting finally stops its hurt.
We stare at empty spaces where our brothers used to stand,
Hands shaking as we gather what remains of who we am.

(Chorus)
After the firefight, we're clinging to the night,
Breathing in the terror that we're trying not to fight.
We lost more than we can say, and it cuts like steel inside --
But we hold on to each other after the firefight.

Someone's whispering their names like a prayer that's lost its faith,
Someone's wiping blood away that isn't theirs but still won't fade.
We don't dare to speak the truth -- that we're broken, cracked, and scared,
'Cause the moment we admit it is the moment we're laid bare.

(Bridge)
And when the war is over, when the uniforms are gone,
These nights will come to haunt us in the quiet before dawn.
We'll carry every scream, every flash behind our eyes --
The kind of wounds that never heal, just learn to live disguised.

(Chorus)
After the firefight, we're clinging to the night,
Breathing in the terror that we're trying not to fight.
We lost more than we can say, and it cuts like steel inside --
But we hold on to each other after the firefight.

So we rise with what is left of us, still trembling from the blast,
And we march into tomorrow with the shadows of our past.
For the ones who didn't make it, we will carry on their light --
And we'll face whatever's coming after the firefight.