Jamie’s going off to war tomorrow Trading in his shovel for a big old gun Time to stand up time to be a man Putting the trigger in his right hand But she needs you now she can’t do it herself Forced to put her dreams and her future on the shelf Think of your wife your child on the way She don’t wanna be a widow at his young age We hear the sounds of bombs dropping It’s ringing in our ears and we can feel it when you’re falling down Twenty-one guns fired in the middle of the night Twenty-one guns were blazing in the thick of the fight Twenty-one guns one shot for every year of his life Reaching for the courage to pull you through But your back’s up against the sharp edge of the knife We’re hanging ribbons of gold on the trees in the yard And your thoughts are with us no matter how far you are We’re always here with you And it kills us inside knowing there’s nothing we can do Bad news strikes the girls left alone Left to raise her child and fend for her own Another family that’s torn by war Another soldier’s face down in the dirt