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The War Was In Color Lyrics

I see you found
A box of my things
Infantries, tanks,
smouldering airplane wings

These old pictures are cool, tell me some stories
Was it like the old war movies?

Sit down, son
Let me fill you in


Where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo
Don't capture the skin

From the flash of a gun
To a soldier who's done
Trust me grandson
The war was in color


From shipyard to sea
From factory to sky
From rivet to rifle
From bootcamp to battlecry

I wore the mask up high on a daylight run
That held my face in it's clammy hands
Crawled over coconut logs and corpses in the coral sands


Where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo
Don't capture the skin

From the shock of a shell
Or the memory of smell
If red is for hell
The war was in color


I held the canvas bag over the railing
The dead released with the ship still sailing
Out of our hands, and into the swallowing sea

I felt the crossfire stitching up soldiers
Into a blanket of dead and as the night grows colder
In a window back home
A blue star is traded for gold


Oh, where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo
Don't capture the skin

When metal is churned
Bodies are burned
Victory earned
The war was in color


Now I lay in my grave
At age twenty one
Long before you were born
Before i bore a son

What good did it do?
Well, hopefully for you
A world without war
A life full of color


Where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo
Never captured my skin

Once it was torn
From an enemy thorn
Straight through the core
The war was in color


Where to begin?
Let's start with the end
This black and white photo
Never captured my skin

From the flash of a gun
To a soldier who's done
Trust me grandson
The war was in color

Trust me grandson
The war was in color

Trust me grandson....
The war was in color
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Cover art for The War Was In Color lyrics by Carbon Leaf

It is about the War of the Pacific during WWII, but is applicable to all wars.. A great song really

@StevethePirate My grandfather served on the USS Boise (Light Cruiser) during WWII. It saw battle in the Leyte Gulf, and delivered troops to Guadalcanal. The captain was Edward J "Mike" Moran. He was beloved by his crew: my father's middle name is 'Mike' (not Michael). He famously said, when facing a Japanese armada "Pick out the biggest one and fire!"

It's a certainty my grandfather helped bury shipmates - the Boise suffered terrible damage at various points, including a torpedo to a forward magazine. It received 11 battle stars - a lot for a light...

Cover art for The War Was In Color lyrics by Carbon Leaf

Wow. Incredible song.

Cover art for The War Was In Color lyrics by Carbon Leaf

this song is pretty much about how black and white pictures-or any picture- cannot match up to the experience of war. it cant capture the thoughts, feelings, and hopes of the soldiers, nor the horrors of war. its a beautiful song.

Song Meaning
Cover art for The War Was In Color lyrics by Carbon Leaf

this song is pretty much about how black and white pictures-or any picture- cannot match up to the experience of war. it cant capture the thoughts, feelings, and hopes of the soldiers, nor the horrors of war. its a beautiful song.

Song Meaning
Cover art for The War Was In Color lyrics by Carbon Leaf

What do you think the line "before I bore a son" means compared to the use of the word grandson? Literally it doesn't mean anything because a man has never bore a son, but do you think it's meant to mean he died before he helped conceive a child, or before his child was born? Never could figure out if the grandson part was literal, or just addressed to someone young...

It's like he died before his wife or girlfriend gave birth to their child

@theevilwriter It can have several meanings. The first: Many soldiers left behind pregnant wives. Many never saw their child, or even perished before the child was born. This could be the ghost/memory of a dead soldier looking over his grandson, hoping his sacrifice will let the grandson live a life of peace.

The second interpretation is that the man he had been before the war died there, and he returned home as someone different. It could even be taken to mean he was so hollowed out by the experience that he felt like a walking corpse much of his...

 
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