[Verse 1]
1942, picking up rations for the week
A girl looks for a candy bar to find them all but gone
The cashier says they've traveled to brave men across the sea
She doesn't understand
Why aren't there any left for little girls like me?

[Chorus]
The radio in the back room tries to make sense of it all
Where the story being written becomes the writing on the wall
Power making promises it never meant to keep
With the ocean between us and them
Rocking her to sleep

[Verse 2]
1973, there's a record on, her daughter sings along
Mama looked on the TV as she hushes her song
Far away in Vietnam concludes a senseless dispute
Mama weeps for the twenty years that we put death in a business suit

[Chorus]
The television in the back room tries to make sense of it all
Where the story being written becomes the writing on the wall
Power making promises it never meant to keep
With the ocean between us and them
Rocking her to sleep
[Verse 3]
2004, granddaughter laughing, playing war like it's a game
Flatscreen blurry, channels flick, and land on something strange
Tanks roll down the sand past crying women, wounded men
Grandma shuts them out, you're not to watch the news again
Then she tries to get her back, says come and play with me
But she says, "I don't feel like playing anymore"

[Bridge]
As grandma tucks her in and tries to give her some relief
She fears her baby's learned what she already knew
The truth don't always set you free

[Chorus]
The little one in her bedroom tries to make sense of it all
Where the story being written becomes the writing on the wall
Power making promises it never meant to keep
With the ocean between us and them
Rocking her to sleep