(Intro) We interrupt all regular programming with breaking news. World leaders have confirmed coordinated strikes across multiple regions overnight. A formal declaration of global war has been issued. Full military mobilization has been authorized. The Selective Service System is now active. A national draft lottery will begin immediately. All eligible citizens between eighteen and twenty-six are required to report. Officials state this action is necessary to preserve national security. This is not a drill. ) ⸻ Verse 1 I was half asleep in the living room glow, Controller dead, TV low. College letters on the fridge, Factory shifts across the bridge. We used to argue ball and bands, Dream about leaving this nowhere land. War was something old and far, Black and white on my granddad’s wall. Never thought those lines they drew Would circle back and land on you. ⸻ Verse 2 It came in the mail with a barcode seal, “Mandatory service.” Didn’t feel real. Mom went quiet, Dad just stared, Like history’s weight was already there. My name was spinning inside a drum With thousands more — and then it come. Seventeen digits. That was me. A lottery for mortality. ⸻ Chorus 1 They pulled my name in a lottery line, Stamped it red, said, “Now you’re mine.” Ship me somewhere I’ve never been, Hand me a rifle, call it discipline. Somewhere far on another shore, Another kid hears the same knock at their door. We were drafted into someone else’s war — Trying to make it home once more. ⸻ Verse 3 Polished desks and perfect ties, Maps behind them, narrowed eyes. They speak of honor, speak of right, While contracts rise overnight. Defense stocks climbing with every speech, Power playing out of reach. They debate on glowing screens, We’re reduced to magazines. Funny how the ones who lead Never stand where we must bleed. Their families safe behind the gate While we’re the ones who roll the fate. They sign in ink. We sign in blood. They send words. We send mud. ⸻ Verse 4 Buzzed my hair and shaved my doubt, Taught me what survival’s about. “Don’t say person — say hostile threat.” Makes it easier to forget. Break the heart, rebuild the frame, Teach the trigger not the name. If they move first, you don’t freeze — You don’t get second chances overseas. ⸻ Chorus 2 They pulled my name in a lottery line, Different country, same design. Now I’m staring through a loaded sight At someone drafted just like I. Same age. Same shaking hands. Same boots sinking in foreign sand. We were drafted into opposite sides — But neither of us chose this fight. ⸻ Verse 5 Dust in my lungs, heat in my veins, Radio static and distant flames. Then I see them across the street, Camo torn at the knees and feet. They raise slow — so do I. No hate in those eyes, just why. Not a monster. Just afraid. Same way I am in this shade. Command in my ear: Take the shot. Safety clicks. Time narrows thin. Their finger tightens — maybe mine. ⸻ Verse 6 Smoke drifts thick between us both. My heart slams inside my throat. I didn’t fire because I hate them. I fired because I want to live. It was them or me in that split-second breath — Survival doesn’t ask what’s left. They fall slow into the sand, Just another life from another land. Different anthem. Same goodbye. Same loved ones asking why. ⸻ Final Chorus They pulled our names from different drums, Different flags, same young ones. Put rifles in our trembling hands, Dropped us in a borrowed land. They signed their papers safe and dry, We were the ones who had to decide. If borders never carved that line, They’d be a neighbor, maybe mine. We were drafted — not born enemies. Just people trying to make it home. ⸻ Outro In another life, on another street… We might’ve shared a drink. Instead we shared a battlefield. They could’ve been my best friend.
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