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He told me sweet lies of sweet loves
Heavy with the burden of the truth
And he spoke of his dreams
Broken by the burden
Broken by the burden of his youth
Fourteen years he said
I couldn't look into the sun
She saw him laying at the end of my gun
Hungry for life
And thirsty for the distant river
I remember his hands
And the way the mountains looked
The light shot diamonds from his eyes
Hungry for life
And thirsty for the distant river
Like the scar of age
Written all over my face
The war is still raging inside of me
I still feel the chill
As I reveal my shame to you
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo
Heavy with the burden of the truth
And he spoke of his dreams
Broken by the burden
Broken by the burden of his youth
Fourteen years he said
I couldn't look into the sun
She saw him laying at the end of my gun
Hungry for life
And thirsty for the distant river
I remember his hands
And the way the mountains looked
The light shot diamonds from his eyes
Hungry for life
And thirsty for the distant river
Like the scar of age
Written all over my face
The war is still raging inside of me
I still feel the chill
As I reveal my shame to you
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo
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Heavy with the burden of the truth
And he spoke of his dreams
Broken by the burden
Broken by the burden of his youth"
^^here she is describing her meeting with the man who had been in vietnam
"Fourteen years, he said"
^^^from this line on the song is in the perspective of the man
"I couldn't look into the sun
She saw him laying at the end of my gun
Hungrey for life
And thirsty for the distant river
I remember his hands
And the way the mountains looked
The light shot diamonds from his eyes
Hungry for life
And thirsty for the distant river"
^^^^here the veteran is describing killing a man while the dead man's wife or daughter (i'm assuming) was witness
"Like the scar of age
Written all over my face
The war is still raging inside of me
I still feel the chill
As i reveal my shame to you
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo"
^^^^and here the man is saying how the incident has scarred his life; he wears it 'like a tattoo'
--- when i really disected the lyrics the song became so much more special to me. i love the way she tells such a vivid story in so few lines
Written all over my face
The war is still raging inside of me
I still feel the chill
As i reveal my shame to you
I wear it like a tattoo"
My gosh.. what a line!
""Like a Tattoo" was a song I wanted to write for a long time. I was in an Irish bar in New York years ago, and this man came and sat next to me and started telling me things about himself that I didn't particularly want to know. He had been in Vietnam. It's my translation of what he was saying to me."