The Sleep That Never Comes

I got out of the Army and I drifted up the coast
That was maybe a year or so at most
Had a notion it somehow might add up to something more
Than 40 hours a week on the factory floor
But two tours of duty fried my nerves pretty good
And I’ve seen some things I wish I didn’t see
And now my meds don’t come cheap
And there’s nights I don’t sleep
But a soldier’s all I’d ever hope to be
I coulda run off to college like my brother did before
I coulda started a band and seen it through
I coulda done like you asked me and just waited out the war
I coulda stayed in the States and married you
I coulda not caught shrapnel from that tripwire grenade
Or nearly lost my legs beneath the three heave
I coulda done like you said 'cause when you bleed like I bled
Well, you’ll never pray so hard, I guarantee
And now praying don’t work much these days for me
Part of me is the factory
'Cause it helps to fill the days
And part of me is the meds to keep me numb
Part of me is the nights in bed just staring into space
Part of me is the sleep that never comes
And part of me just sits and watches daytime TV
And that’s the part that no one wants to see
And then the part I can’t name
But if it’s all just the same
Well I swear you, you’re all that’s really left of me
Yeah you, you’re all that’s really left