The Father War Left Me

Dress blues under Normandy light Your name waits where the silver wall shines I came home breathing, but not whole Victory sounds different when it costs a soul Earth is quiet where the fires used to climb Ash on the harbor, dawn on the line They tell me stand straight, Commander, be strong But I keep hearing your boots in the hall You saw the soldier before the rank You gave me a ship when the Council sank When every order was colder than steel You taught me which wounds were worth keeping real I saved the stars, but I lost your hand I won the war with no way to understand You were the father war left me The voice that called me through the flame Now I carry your silence beside me Like an oath I never learned to name If heroes pay with everything Then I know what victory means You were the father war left me And I am still becoming what you believed Hackett speaks softly, the crew does not move Liara lowers her eyes in the blue Garrus stands guard like the sky might break Tali holds silence with both hands shaking I raise your name where the fallen remain Not above mine, not below my pain Beside every life that the Reapers stole A mark in the metal, a weight in my soul I wanted time, just one quiet room One more order, one more truth from you You were the father war left me The voice that called me through the flame Now I carry your silence beside me Like an oath I never learned to name If heroes pay with everything Then I know what victory means You were the father war left me And I am still becoming what you believed I do not know how to live past the sirens I do not know how to sleep without war But you would tell me the living keep trying That peace is a duty worth fighting for So I will breathe where you could not follow I will build what the fire could not keep And when the dark asks who made me a leader I will answer your name in my sleep You were the father war left me The voice that called me through the flame Now I carry your silence beside me Like an oath I never learned to name If heroes pay with everything Then I know what victory means You were the father war left me And I am still becoming what you believed Goodbye, Anderson The stars are standing down But I will stand for you Until I lay my armor down