TUNING:



Half-step down (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb)





STRUMMING:



D  D  DU DU D DU

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +





CHORDS USED: (Named by finger position, not by notes. The Roman numeral VI after the A# 

it’s on the sixth fret, just so no one thinks I made it up.)



     F     Am    A#    C     Dm    Fsus  Am7   A#VI  F5

Eb|--------0-----------0-----1-----------------------------|

Bb|--1-----1-----------1-----3-----------------------------|

Gb|--2-----2-----3-----0-----2----12----12-----7----10-----|

Db|--3-----2-----3-----2-----0----10----10-----8----10-----|

Ab|--3-----0-----1-----3-----------8-----0-----x-----8-----|

Eb|--------------------------------------------6-----------|





Okay, here we go:



INTRO:



Eb|---------------------------------|----------------/5---3---1---0---|

Bb|-----6-------6-------6-------6---|-1~~-----------------------------|

Gb|---------5-------5-------5-------|-0~~-----------------------------|

Db|---------------------------------|-2~~-----------------------------|

Ab|---------------------------------|-3~~-----------------------------|

Eb|-6-------------------------------|---------------------------------|





          F

He said, "Son,

                  Am

Have you seen the world?

                     A#

Well, what would you say

                   F

If I said that you could?

                A#                   F

Just carry this gun; you'll even get paid."

                            C

I said, "That sounds pretty good."



              F

Black leather boots,

               Am

Spit-shined so bright

                A#                   F

They cut off my hair, but it looks alright.

                  A#

We marched and we sang;

              F

We all became friends,

                     C

As we learned how to fight.



          Dm

A hero of war,

                      A#

Yeah that's what I'll be.

                F

And when I come home,

                         C

They'll be damn proud of me.

                Dm

I'll carry this flag

       A#

To the grave if I must.

              F

’Cause it's a flag that I love,

                  C

And a flag that I trust.



                F

I kicked in the door.

               Am

I yelled my commands.

                   A#

The children, they cried,

             F

But I got my man.

             A#

We took him away,

                  F

A bag over his face,

                     C

From his family, his friends.



                  F

They took off his clothes.

                   Am

They pissed in his hands.

               A#

I told them to stop,

                F

But then I joined in.

                 A#

We beat him with guns

                    F

And batons not just once,

               C

But again and again.



          Dm

A hero of war,

                      A#

Yeah that's what I'll be.

                F

And when I come home,

                         C

They'll be damn proud of me.

                Dm

I'll carry this flag

       A#

To the grave if I must.

              F

’Cause it's a flag that I love,

                  C

And a flag that I trust.





NOTE:

Replace the last strum of the chorus with the note in parentheses below. Palm-mute the 

chords until the original ones kick back in.



Eb|-----|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|

Bb|-----|-----6-------6-------6-------6---|-1~~------------/9---------------|

Gb|-----|---------5-------5-------5-------|-0~~----------------12--10---9---|

Db|-----|---------------------------------|-2~~-----------------------------|

Ab|-----|---------------------------------|-3~~-----------------------------|

Eb|-(5)-|-6-------------------------------|---------------------------------|





    Fsus                       Am7

She walked through bullets and haze.

               A#VI

I asked her to stop;

                F5

I begged her to stay.

                A#VI

But she pressed on,

               F5

So I lifted my gun,

             C

And I fired away...



        F                         Am

And the shells jumped through the smoke

             A#

And into the sand

                       F

That the blood had now soaked.

       A#                        F

She collapsed with a flag in her hand;

                C

A flag white as snow...



          Dm

A hero of war,

                  A#

Is that what they see?

                F

Just medals and scars;

                 C

So damn proud of me.

                        Dm

And I brought home that flag.

               A#

Now it gathers dust.

                         F

But it's the flag that I love;

                     C

It's the only flag I trust.



          F

He said, "Son,

                  Am

Have you seen the world?

                     A#

Well, what would you say

                   F

If I said that you could?