29 Palms

I thought I'd join join the army
'Cause Dad liked shooting guns
It's hard enough to please a man
Damned if you're his son
I sweated every mile
In the concrete and the sun
They shaved my head
And wrote my name next to machine gun

I aced the test, they told me
I'd stay behind the lines
But there's no such thing as errors
When the command decides
They moved me to the barracks
In palm 29
We were taught to fire to the rhythm
Of die mother fucker die

Well there's only two places
The Joshua tree belongs
The gates of heaven
And Twentynine Palms

If you've come to find a brother
Brother you're insane
Is a man in a turban
A man just the same
Blow his ass to hell
And don't complain
The wind always whistled
I forgot the sound of rain

I finally went for help
But help can't be sought
They pumped me full of pills
And called it suicidal thoughts
Three months in the ward
They said the paperwork got lost
Son, you're just 18
You don't know what you want

Well there's only two places
The Joshua tree belongs
The gates of heaven
And Twentynine Palms

Now I'm back on the couch
In Daddy's old place
I stay up all night gaming
And I sleep through the days
He's happy to have me home
He calls it grace
I'm 21 years old
I can't look a man in the face

It's easy to stay bitter
When there's somebody to blame
But I enlisted
I signed my own name
Dad still goes out shooting
And invites me just the same
There's a man in a room somewhere
Who thinks it's just a game

The ghost of 29
The grand inquisitor
He pours scotch whiskey
For every senator
He says the people don't want freedom
They want bread and sugar
I hope the devil writes your name
Next to machine gunner

There's only two places
The Joshua tree belongs
The gates of heaven
And Twentynine Palms