They Called Us Murderers

Intro

Hmm, hmm, hmm — hey-ya, hey-ya

(da-da, da-da)

Verse

We stepped off the train with our coats full of dust

Medals on our chest, but the town gave us rust

The factory doors were shut and the foreman's eyes were cold

They said “What did you do?” like we'd sell our souls

Kids in the corner staring like a story gone wrong

Neighbors kept their distance, like we didn't belong

We carried quiet names and the lists of the lost

They called it justice, but we counted the cost

Pre-chorus

We came back older than the pictures on the wall (on the wall)

We came back carrying summers that wouldn't fall (wouldn't fall)

They frowned at our laughter and they mocked our brave tune

Said we brought the night to their front room (their front room)

Chorus

They called us murderers — oh-oh, oh-oh

They called us murderers — hey, hey, hey

They called us murderers — oh-oh, oh-oh

They called us murderers when we came back home

They called us murderers — unfair, unfair

They called us murderers — unfair, unfair

They called us murderers — unfair, unfair

They called us murderers and turned us out alone

Verse

My brother's hands shook from a war he can't show

The doctor wrote his name, the ledger said "no-more"

The landlord shook his head, said "I got a new man"

Left my kid with a letter and a rusted-out van

A pastor at the pulpit said "forget what they did"

While politicians smiled and polished their grid

We signed the papers clean, then we slept in the line

They labeled us monsters like we crossed a thin line

Pre-chorus

We came back with silence stitched under our skin (under our skin)

We came back with pieces that rattled within (rattled within)

They counted our years but they tossed out the pain

Said "We fought for peace" while we bled in the rain (blew in the rain)

Chorus

They called us murderers — oh-oh, oh-oh

They called us murderers — hey, hey, hey

They called us murderers — oh-oh, oh-oh

They called us murderers when we came back home

They called us murderers — unfair, unfair

They called us murderers — unfair, unfair

They called us murderers — unfair, unfair

They called us murderers and turned us out alone

Verse

Old letters in a trunk smell like smoke and time

Names carved in the paving where the boys used to climb

The veterans' club still meets with an empty chair

They pass around stories and blame the air

A mother at the window says "He fought, he bled"

A senator says "Service," then looks to the ledge

Promises like paperboats that never learned to float

We learned to keep our mouths and swallow what we wrote

Bridge

Oh, we sang for the ships and we sang for the shore (for the shore)

We sang for the young who will never come back for more

Hey — yeah — we stood where the flags flew red and white

They waved on TV, then they turned out the lights

We named the names in the mud, we called them by the dawn

But the court of the street said we d