I was there in the winter of '64
When we camped in the ice
at Nashville's doors
Three hundred miles our trail had led
We barely had time to bury our dead
When the Yankees charged and the colors fell
Overton hill was a living hell
When we called retreat it was almost dark
I died with a grapeshot in my heart

Say a prayer for peace
For every fallen son
Set my spirit free
Let me lay down my gun
Sweet mother Mary I'm so tired
But I can't come home 'til
the last shot's fired

In June of 1944
I waited in the blood of Omaha's shores
Twenty-one and scared to death
My heart poundin' in my chest
I almost made the first seawall
When my friends turned and saw me fall
I still smell the smoke, I can taste the mud
As I lay there dying from a loss of blood

Say a prayer for peace
For every fallen son
Set my spirit free
Let me lay down my gun
Sweet mother Mary I'm so tired
But I can't come home 'til
the last shot's fired

I'm in the fields of Vietnam,
The mountains of Afghanistan
And I'm still hopin', waitin', prayin'
I did not die in vain

Say a prayer for peace
For every fallen son
Set our spirits free
Let us lay down our guns
Sweet mother Mary we're so tired
But we can't come home 'til
the last shot's fired
'Til the last shot's fired

Say a prayer for peace (for peace)
For our daughters and our sons
Set our spirits free (set us free)
Let us lay down our guns

Sweet mother Mary, we're so tired
But we can't come home (No
we can't come home)

'Til the last shot's fired

Every now and then ya gotta take it on the chin
Gotta turn the other cheek
But then there's times your old stubborn pride
Don't back down so easily
And you got no choice but to let your voice
Be heard and hold your ground
And that's the point that he'll get the point
And he'll probably back down
But if he bows up and steps across that line
Ya gotta whoop a man's ass sometimes

Chorus:
Man, I'll be the first one here to call you crazy
If you let me catch you cussin' out a kid or roughin' up a lady
And God forbid that anybody mess with mine
Ya gotta whoop a man's ass sometimes

Yeah I let it slide when that liquored up guy
Asked me, "Boy, what you lookin' at?"
And I kept my cool when the reckless fool
Put a dent in my Cadillac
And I don't care that my long hair
Draws stares the way it does
Long as you aint' throwin' stick
And stones you'll probably be all right 'cause
I'll take the high road if I can out of a bind
But you gotta whoop a man's ass sometimes

Repeat Chorus

Man, I'll be th first one here to call you crazy
If you let me catch you cussin' out a kid or roughin' up a lady
And God forbid that anybody mess with that little girl of mine
Ya gotta whoop a man's ass sometimes
Ya gotta whoop a man's ass sometimes
Yeah, ya gotta whoop a man's ass sometimes