“We sleep safely in our beds at night because hard men stand the night to visit violence on those that would do us harm.” - George Orwell
The singer is one of the hard men.
The protected:
"They wait for me back home
The live with eyes turned away
They were the first ones to see
They are the last ones to bleed"
He cannot take the killing any more even though he knows he has only done what he has had to do. The boy he had to kill was too much for him to bear. He will not kill any more, but he will march on until he is killed. The 'gallows' is figurative. That is how it sounds to me.
BTW, this song might be drawn from Chris Ryan's novel, "10th Man Down." It was published shortly before the song was written. I have not read it.
“We sleep safely in our beds at night because hard men stand the night to visit violence on those that would do us harm.” - George Orwell
The singer is one of the hard men.
The protected:
"They wait for me back home The live with eyes turned away They were the first ones to see They are the last ones to bleed"
He cannot take the killing any more even though he knows he has only done what he has had to do. The boy he had to kill was too much for him to bear. He will not kill any more, but he will march on until he is killed. The 'gallows' is figurative. That is how it sounds to me.
BTW, this song might be drawn from Chris Ryan's novel, "10th Man Down." It was published shortly before the song was written. I have not read it.