A friend told me about Mary Gauthier, a Canadian folk singer, who produced an album called “Rifles and Rosary Beads,” consisting of eleven country-western style songs written by returning warriors and their family members. The songs express how post traumatic stress affects not just warriors, but their families too.
Below are the lyrics of leading song, called “The War After the War.” You might like to listen to it here.
Who’s gonna care for the ones who care for the ones who went to war?
Land mines in the living room, eggshells on the floor.
I lost myself in the shadow of your honor and your pain
You stare out the window as our dreams go down the drain
Invisible, the war after the war
I get no basic training, I get no purple heart
I’m supposed to carry on, I can’t fall apart
People look at you and thank you for the sacrifice you made
They look at me and smile and say I’m lucky you’re O.K.
Invisible, the war after the war
I’m a soldier too, just like you
Serving something bigger than myself
I serve unseen, caught in between
My pain and the pain of someone else
I’m stronger than you think I am, I’m right here by your side
I’m not your enemy I don’t want to fight
There’s no going back in time I know you’re not the same
But you are not the only one for whom the world has changed
Invisible, the war after the war