[Verse 1] Black sand under my boots Flag folded in my pack Smoke claws at the daylight Ships thunder at our backs Steep teeth of the island Every step A brand-new hell Names inked on a letter I still promised I would tell [Pre-Chorus] Heartbeats count the distance Between the gunfire and the shore Every wave that breaks beside us Says you’ll never be before [Chorus] Raise it high on Iwo Jima Torn hands Bleeding sky Steel rain all around us But that banner will not die Carve our courage in the hillside Where the firestorms collide Raise it high on Iwo Jima For the ones who never made the ride [Verse 2] Sand fused into glass By a storm of red and lead Foxholes like open graves Whispering to the dead Friend falls in my arms Mud mixing with his blood He laughs “Don’t let them take it” Then he sinks into the flood [Pre-Chorus] Echoes in the smoke Calling out from years before Every life that built this moment Pushing us up one step more [Chorus] [Bridge] [low vocal register] Six men in a frozen frame But thousands hold that line Every fingerprint of fear Pressed into that climb [guitar solo] [Chorus]
