planes on the runway

jet fighters overhead

planes flying through your dreams

when you're lying asleep in your bed

and the job means being ready

for a war no one wants to fight

eternal preparation for those sirens in the night

down on the station

so they play it out on war games

the phone rings early dawn

papa says the code word, grabs his gear

and then he's gone gone gone

and it's the biggest tease of all now

imagine how it feels

to spend your whole life cocked and ready

but you never get to shoot for real

down on the station



and every year they move you

if you're lucky every two or three

so you learn to be real adaptable

'cause that's how a soldier should be

you get good at playing new kid in school

or new wife on the block

you learn not to get too close

you learn when not to talk

down on the station



Operation Nighthawk

mama's pacing up and down the hall

she says Go back to bed now girls

nothing to worry about at all

and for years of course you believe her

until one night you know the score

all it takes is a little bad timing

a slight miscalculation

a critical malfunction

and someone's father don't come home no more

down on the station



and booze was cheap in the mess halls

you can bet it was planned that way

to keep you from thinking too much at night

about what you did all day



so papa stumbles home around midnight

we listen upstairs in fear

he stalks the house like a stranger

mama's once again in tears

oh god and now he's cursing and raging

he thinks no one understands

he feels trapped in this house full of women

where are the sons he'd plan