From the recordings THE WAR FOLLOWED ME HOME and Twenty-two
“22” is one of the hardest stories I’ve ever put into words. I’ve never really liked calling what I write “songs,” and I especially don’t like calling these words “lyrics.” To me, they’re memories. They’re faces. They’re names. They’re places and moments that somehow found a permanent home inside my head.
Many of my most personal stories come when I’m in the middle of a bad period of depression, or when I’m just starting to find my way out of one. That’s when my mind seems to wander back to my Army days and Vietnam. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like I’m remembering it. It feels like I’m there again. Faces I haven’t seen in more than fifty years become clear. Names come back. Conversations come back. Things I thought I had buried a long time ago suddenly walk right through the door.
Some of those faces belonged to men I served beside. Some belonged to veterans I came to know later in life. And far too many of those faces are no longer here. Some survived the war only to lose another battle years after they came home.
That is what “22” means to me.
It isn’t really about a number. It’s about the human beings behind that number. The veteran sitting alone at two in the morning. The brother or sister who learned how to survive combat but never quite learned how to silence what followed them home. The empty chair. The unanswered phone. The name somebody still thinks about decades later.
I’m an old soldier now, but there are nights when I’m seventeen again, wearing that uniform and looking into faces that never really left me. “22” came from one of those nights.
These aren’t just words I wrote. They are people I remember. And I don’t want another face added to them.
Lyrics
[22]
[Blue Wave Revival]
[INTRO – quiet piano and cello, intimate male lead, clearly sung]
Twenty-two became a number
Veterans learned to know
A number tied to suicide
And brothers we let go
Twenty-two...
Not just a number
Every one of them had a name
[VERSE 1]
For years we heard that number
Twenty-two lost every day
Men and women who served this country
But couldn't find another way
Some carried wars inside them
Some fought battles no one knew
Some made it home from overseas
Then faced a different war alone too
[PRE-CHORUS]
We counted days when we were gone
Counted miles till we came home
But there's one number I wish
We never had to know
[CHORUS]
Twenty-two is more than a number
Every one of them had a name
A brother, a sister, a veteran
Someone who never came home the same
It's an empty chair at supper
It's a picture on the wall
It's somebody wishing they had known
How much they were hurting through it all
Before another name
Becomes a number that we knew
Brother, sister, stay here tonight
I'll stand the watch with you
[VERSE 2]
Some came home without a scar
That anybody else could see
But war can follow someone home
And live inside a memory
Years go by, the uniform
Gets folded up and put away
But fifty years can disappear
When midnight feels like yesterday
I know something about those nights
When your own mind won't let you rest
When everybody thinks you're fine
While you're fighting in your chest
[PRE-CHORUS]
We were taught don't leave one behind
That promise doesn't end with war
Sometimes the strongest thing you'll ever do
Is reach out for one hand more
[CHORUS]
Twenty-two is more than a number
Every one of them had a name
A brother, a sister, a veteran
Someone who carried hidden pain
It's an empty chair at supper
It's a phone that doesn't ring
It's a family left remembering
A thousand little things
Before another name
Becomes a number that we knew
Brother, sister, stay here tonight
I'll stand the watch with you
[BRIDGE – drums and strings begin building]
You don't have to tell the whole story
You don't have to explain the war
You don't need the perfect words tonight
Just open up the door
Call a buddy, call your family
Call somebody who understands
There is courage in saying, "Help me"
There is strength in reaching out a hand
Don't fight every battle tonight
Don't carry every mile
Stay with me until the morning
Stay with me a little while
[KEY CHANGE 1 – UP ONE WHOLE STEP]
[CHORUS – stronger, full strings and drums]
Twenty-two is more than a number
Every one of them had a name
Every uniform held a heartbeat
Every life was more than pain
It's an empty chair at supper
It's a photograph held tight
It's somebody who would give anything
To have one more night
Before another name
Becomes a number that we knew
Brother, sister, stay here tonight
I'll stand the watch with you
[INSTRUMENTAL BUILD – piano, cello, clean electric guitar]
[KEY CHANGE 2 – UP ONE WHOLE STEP]
[FINAL CHORUS – soaring but controlled]
Twenty-two is more than a number
Let that number someday fade
Let it only be a memory
Of the lives we couldn't save
Until then we'll keep on listening
We'll answer when you call
Because coming home from battle
Shouldn't mean you fight alone at all
Before another name
Becomes a number that we knew
Brother, sister, stay here tonight
I'll stand the watch with you
Yes, before another name
Becomes a number that we knew
Stay here with us one more morning
We'll stand the watch with you
[OUTRO – drums fall away, piano and cello remain]
Twenty-two...
It started as a number
But every number was a life
Someday I hope
It's just a number again
Until then
You don't have to stand watch alone
[LONG INSTRUMENTAL OUTRO – piano, cello and soft strings, clean complete ending]