The old colonel was a veteran
Each night he'd take his medicine
And stay up watchin’ letterman
Trying to forget
The things he saw when he was young
The carnage and the sound of guns
He kept his pain from everyone
With the ink inside his pen

The colonel kept a journal of his troubles and regrets
His battles were internal, raging wars inside his head
'Til the end, he was a soldier
'Cause the fight was never over
The colonel kept a journal and he left it in a box
Buried in the basement underneath some dirty socks
’Til the end, he was a soldier
'Cause the fight was never over

And the day he died, his kids flew in
Took some time just to remember him
They cleaned up his old medicine
As everybody wept
They were packing up the cellar
When they found his diary, read it and
Couldn't believe the things he said
With the ink inside his pen

The colonel kept a journal of his troubles and regrets
His battles were internal, raging wars inside his head
'Til the end, he was a soldier
'Cause the fight was never over
The colonel kept a journal and he left it in a box
Buried in the basement underneath some dirty socks
'Til the end, he was a soldier
'Cause the fight was never over

The old colonel was a veteran
My granddad, and a gentleman
I'll always remember him
Oh, I swear I won’t forget
The things he saw when he was young
The carnage and the sound of guns
And the pain he kept from everyone
With the ink inside his pen

The colonel kept a journal of his troubles and regrets
His battles were internal, raging wars inside his head
’Til the end, he was a soldier
'Cause the fight was never over
The colonel kept a journal and he left it in a box
Buried in the basement underneath some dirty socks
’Til the end, he was a soldier
'Cause the fight was never over