Dad on Fire Blues, By Rick Burnley



Dad on Fire Blues

by Rick Burnley

October 3, 2006


I have a story that I’d like to share
About a friend who came for the American Dream
Instead what he found was a nightmare,
And now in the heart, there’s an endless scream
And the pain inside doesn’t ever stop
Caused by the neo conmen who mislead
And the life of Carlos’ son, Alexander
Was sacrificed for their greed

Alexander was just a boy, seventeen
When he signed up to serve
His father’s permission was never asked
That took a lot of nerve
It would never have been given, either,
Carlos saw through the lies
Iraq was not our enemy
It’d be nice if more were that wise.

Alexander was underage, you see,
Carlos never would have signed
His son was one of the Kleenex Marines
That our government likes to mine

They shipped Alexander off to Iraq
More equipment for an illegal war
Sent by our craven misleaders
Who deserve to be feathered and tarred.

Two years later, Alexander was dead
Killed by a sniper’s shot to the head
And that bullet started a cycle of pain
His life had been squandered for material gain

On Carlos’ birthday, a van drove up,
Three men in uniform came to his door
They had news for him
That was painful and grim
He wouldn’t be seeing his son anymore.

When Carlos first saw them walk up the path
He thought that maybe they’d come with a song
A surprise from his son, Alexander
But he couldn’t have been more wrong
Instead of a Happy Birthday
He got the heartbreaking news
And in that moment, his life changed forever
And he’d be singing the endless blues

At first, when they told him those terrible words
It was impossible for him to believe
But it started to sink in slowly
He needed to think, to grieve
And the very first words that came from his lips were
“I’d like you to go; please leave.”

Three times they ignored his simple request
Because our government always knows what’s best
A half hour later they were still there
And Carlos watched them with a vacant stare.

Then something inside him finally snapped
And he headed for the van
He grabbed a hammer and started to smash
He’d become an insane man.

What he was feeling
Can’t be imagined
But pretend this had happened to you
That your precious son was killed by bloodthirsty fools
What do you think that you’d do?

So Carlos climbed into the government van
And with a hammer he tried to destroy
This symbol of the war machine
That had taken the life of his boy

Then he grabbed a jerry can
Filled with 5 gallons of gas
He was filled with an insane rage
That would take a long time to pass
He doused the gas inside the van
And found a torch nearby
Some of it sloshed on his clothes and his socks
He didn’t care if he died

Then Carlos pulled the trigger
And out shot the deadly flame
A powerful explosion resulted
And his life would never be the same

The blast blew him out of the back of the van
He became “The Dad on Fire”
And if his mother hadn’t put out the flames
It would have been his funeral pyre

When Carlos first became conscious
He felt the pain of a thousand knives
The same pain American deals out in the Mideast
As we rain terror on innocent lives

His elderly mother had seen what had happened
Carlos’ legs and feet were on fire
She put out the flames with her bare hands
Another victim of our rulers, those liars

In another town, not far away
Was Carlos’ younger son
Who’d just been informed by uniformed men
That his big brother had been killed by a gun

While beginning to digest this heart crushing news
Brian got a call on the phone
Quick, turn on the TV
You won’t believe what you’ll see
And the scene chilled the boy to the bone

His father on fire
His grandmother screaming
His big brother murdered
He had to be dreaming

But sadly for him
These things were all true
And as watched this horrific scene play out
There was nothing that he could do


And the marines who’d been standing by
Were holding down his father
Can you imagine this event in your life
Or maybe you would rather
Think these things couldn’t happen to you
It’s too painful to think about
While some of us are moved to action
We should all stand up and shout
Enough of this madness
This endless killing
This orgy of carnage
This criminal blood spilling
Enough, enough and never again
We don’t want to be ruled by bloodthirsty men

Carlos Arredondo is a patriot, a hero
He devotes all of his waking hours to getting rid of Nero
He goes around the country,
Awakening others to our plight,
The new world’s Reich has risen,
And we’re heading for the night
Unless many of us stand up
And take control of the Land of Free,
The goose-steppers are here in our lovely land
And fascism will be our destiny

It’s time for the reign of these madmen to end
So here’s a message that I’d like to send
You’ve got your dreams, your fantasies
You live in a magic land
Well I’m here to tell you my brothers & sisters
Their foundation’s built on quicksand
Because the Empire has risen
And what it’s looking for is slaves
And we’ll all be at their mercy
From our cradles to our graves
If we don’t rise up and speak out
Our freedoms are going to end
Because it’s clear to see if you open your eyes
We’re being ruled by conscienceless men

Posted: Wed - April 4, 2007 at 09:13 PM            

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