The Last Canteen
There’s a dusty road in a misty land
Surrounded by miles of sand
Along it stands ratty bar
Just called The Last Canteen
Inside the bar the light is low
The stools all sit in a row
Like the clientele
Of The Last Canteen
For they are soldiers, dead and gone
Who stop for a drink, or a last song
They talk for a bit
At The Last Canteen
There's Mike and Tom dressed in Blue and Grey
Wondering about the life they let get away
They raise their glasses
To The Last Canteen
There's Dieter and Tom, Tohero and Brahim
Mohandas, Ivan, Akande, Hakeem
Now they all are here
At The Last Canteen
The time does come, when each must go
Out the door, around the back, but from there nobody knows
What happens to them
After The Last Canteen
But they have to leave, they really do
To make some space for someone new
There's always more coming in
To The Last Canteen.
The bartender stands and polishes a glass
He wishes it would close, that he could serve the last
Soldier that came
To The Last Canteen
But there's always another
Now sisters as well as brothers
That walk in the door
To The Last Canteen
"Goddamnit don't they know"
"War never solved anything though"
He mutters to himself
In The Last Canteen.
"Trying to end war with the Marines"
"Is like fighting a fire with gasoline"
"It just makes it worse"
"And they end up at The Last Canteen."
“I fear," he sighs “it may only end"
"When the last brother kills brother and friend kills friend"
"When there's nobody left"
"To come to The Last Canteen."
"But for now business is booming'"
"We just had to add another new room in"
"The space out back"
"Of The Last Canteen.
There’s a dusty road in a misty land
Surrounded by miles of sand
Let us prey for the day
When they can close The Last Canteen