When the helmets hit the ground at the drums of dawn.
Where the thunder roars as the trumpets sound
for the children born by the smoking guns
in atomic flames where the ties all come undone.
When the helmets hit the ground will we hide in shame
from our own mistakes while we place the blame?
Or will freedom hang from a gallows pole
where the hands of greed distort control.
In a house of cards that was built to break down.
Where actions warn of a day that's coming 'round;
when a judgment calls, going to even things out.
So ask yourself what's it really all about?
When they say that independence is the goal we're fighting for
could it really be another way to filter out the poor?
As we stand within the shadow of a never ending war,
better listen when the helmets hit the ground.
When the helmets hit the ground
is it worth the cost of the land we've raped
and the lives we've lost?
Where the prices rise as the dying fall
for a Bill of Rights that's only done them wrong.
When the helmets hit the ground it's the perfect crime.
Fill the tombstone rows with the firing line.
Lure the wayward youth gathered far and wide
to the pearly gates with an advertised life.
And as one signs up there's another shot down.
The flags wave high as the bodies pile 'round.
By the seven seals under blood red skies,
the devils dance while the angels cry
for the faithful but misguided who have died without a name.
For the mothers and the fathers clutching picture frames in pain
of their sons and of their daughters they may never see again.
Pay attention when the helmets hit the ground.
When the helmets hit the ground will you ask your God
if He'll shed his grace on a graveyard plot?
Where the monuments of our pride once stood
for a crooked crown of brotherhood.
And our number's up with another one down.
The walls close in on the Armageddon-bound.
And our time grows short, better figure things out.
The horsemen ride while the chimes are ringing loud
for a torn and tattered country and the battles she has known;
for the innocent without a choice who faces death alone.
From the bunkers to the barracks bring them all back home...
before another helmet hits the ground.