INTRO (lower case: individual notes, not chords)
f#-a - B5
d-e-a - B5
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
Back home Indiana, we just learn to get along
G A D Am Em9
Civilized and socialized they teach you right from wrong
G A D A C#m F#m
How to hold your liquor and how to hold your tongue
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
How to hold a woman or a baby or a gun
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
But nothing will prepare you for the far Afghanistan
G A D A F#m
You can listen to their stories and pick up what you can
G A D A C#m F#m
You listen to their stories maybe read a book or two
Bm A/C# D G A F#m Bm
Until they send you out there, man you haven't got a clue
C#m A C#m A C#m A F#m
Oh the Hindu Kush, the Band-e Amir, the Hazara
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm E/B Bm
They tell you a tradition in the hills of Kandahar
G A D A F#m
They say young boys are taken to the wilderness out there
G A D A C#m F#m
Taken to the mountain alone and in the night
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
If he makes it home alive they teach him how to fight
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
They fought against the Russians, they fought against the Brits
G A D A F#m
Hell, they fought old Alexander, talking 'bout him ever since
G A D A C#m F#m
And after 9/11 here comes your Uncle Sam
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
Another painful lesson in the far Afghanistan
C#m A C#m A C#m A
C#m A F#m Bm E/B Bm
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
I was ready to be terrified and ready to be mad
G A D A F#m
I was ready to be homesick, the worst I've ever had
G A D A C#m F#m
I expected to be hated and insulted to my face
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
But nothing could prepare me for the beauty of the place
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
No matter what they tell you, all soldiers talk to God
G A D A F#m
It's a private conversation written in your blood
G A D A C#m F#m
The enemy's no different, bad-ass holy wind
Bm A/C# D A F#m Bm
That crazy bastard talks to God and his God talks back to him
E/G# A C#m F#m Bm
B5
(solo)
[fade out ...]
