I had a good home but I left
I had a good home but I left, right, left
That big fucking bomb made me deaf, deaf
A Humvee mechanic put his Kevlar on wrong
I guarantee you'll meet up with a suicide bomb
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Big fucking ditches in the middle of the road
You pay a hundred dollars just for fillin' in the hole
Listen to the general every goddamn word
How many ways can you polish up a turd
Left, right, left, left, right
Left, right
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
How is it that the only ones responsible for making this mess
Got their sorry asses stapled to a goddamn desk
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Left, right, left
What did you do before the war?
I was a chef, I was a chef
What was your name?
It was Geoff, Geoff
I lost my buddy and I wept, wept
I come down from the meth
So I slept, slept
I had a good home but I left, left
Pantsed at the wind for a joke
I pranced right in with the dope
Glanced at her shin she said nope
Left, right, left
Nimrod Bodfish have you any wool
Get me another body bag, the body bag's full
My face was scorched, scorched
I miss my home I miss my porch, porch
Left, right, left
Can I go home in March? March
My stanch was a chin full of soap
That rancid dinner with the Pope
Left, right, left
Kelly Presutto got his thumbs blown off
Sergio's developing a real bad cough
Sergio's developing a real bad cough
And hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Boom went his head away
And boom went Valerie huh
What the hell was it that the president said?
Give him a beautiful parade instead
Left, right, left
When I was over here I never got to vote
I left my arm in my coat
My mom she died and never wrote
We sat by the fire and ate a goat
Just before he died he had a toke
Now I'm home and I'm blind
And I'm broke
What is next
I had a good home but I left, right, left
That big fucking bomb made me deaf, deaf
A Humvee mechanic put his Kevlar on wrong
I guarantee you'll meet up with a suicide bomb
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Big fucking ditches in the middle of the road
You pay a hundred dollars just for fillin' in the hole
Listen to the general every goddamn word
How many ways can you polish up a turd
Left, right, left, left, right
Left, right
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
How is it that the only ones responsible for making this mess
Got their sorry asses stapled to a goddamn desk
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Left, right, left
What did you do before the war?
I was a chef, I was a chef
What was your name?
It was Geoff, Geoff
I lost my buddy and I wept, wept
I come down from the meth
So I slept, slept
I had a good home but I left, left
Pantsed at the wind for a joke
I pranced right in with the dope
Glanced at her shin she said nope
Left, right, left
Nimrod Bodfish have you any wool
Get me another body bag, the body bag's full
My face was scorched, scorched
I miss my home I miss my porch, porch
Left, right, left
Can I go home in March? March
My stanch was a chin full of soap
That rancid dinner with the Pope
Left, right, left
Kelly Presutto got his thumbs blown off
Sergio's developing a real bad cough
Sergio's developing a real bad cough
And hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Hell broke luce
Boom went his head away
And boom went Valerie huh
What the hell was it that the president said?
Give him a beautiful parade instead
Left, right, left
When I was over here I never got to vote
I left my arm in my coat
My mom she died and never wrote
We sat by the fire and ate a goat
Just before he died he had a toke
Now I'm home and I'm blind
And I'm broke
What is next
Lyrics submitted by xdvr, edited by cams105385
Hell Broke Luce Lyrics as written by Thomas A. Waits Kathleen Brennan
Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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- hell broke loose (phrase for total chaos)
- hell broke luce (iraq is hell, it broke luce to suicide)
but the whole combination of the growl, the rhythm, the sound effects, this song haunts you
It was said in passing during one of the interviews I read (I think in the NYT article) that Tom claims he took the title from a line of graffiti written on an Alcatraz Prison wall after a riot, but I guess the real question is whether or not "Luce" is the nickname of the character in the song (Something like Geoff Luciano perhaps?). It certainly tells stories of soldiers 'broken' by hellish war experiences so it's plausible.
I love the line about how the people "Responsible for making all this mess got their asses stapled to a goddamn desk"
Cool video too.
pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/henry-luce/henry-r-luce-and-the-rise-of-the-american-news-media/650/
kathleen brennan use "luce", and this means lucifer, the devil itself. I guess that's it.
rb
as for the title, what I always thought is that the main character of the song is named "Luce"(which is a common surname).
It's a pun on "Hell broke loose", but I think it's saying that the War was hell and it broke him as a person.
I think is a play on words meaning the military thing, and "I left my home, that's right, I left".