ISSUED

stories of service

John “Travis” Burns

Outside Lookin’ In

Shipped out for a desert war, a line drawn in the sand,
Kept the promises I made when I raised up my right hand
Was all good when I signed up, but I guess that time is gone,
Now I’m walking down the street back here, in a place I don’t belong.

Outside lookin’ in, man, I left this place behind,
Coming home was different, than I pictured in my mind,

Had too many trips downrange, I used up all my luck,
Can’t tell that to a VA suit, been nowhere near the Suck,
Nothin’ you can learn by watchin’ Generation Kill,
Not the kind of thing that you can fix with just a pill.

Outside lookin’ in, man, I just shake my head,
Some days I really wonder, would it matter if I was dead?

Hirin’ people look right past the scars that’s on my hands,
Look right past all of my tattoos, they’ll never, understand,
They don’t know who we are, man, they don’t know where we’ve been,
They don’t much care about that now, and they really didn’t then.

Outside lookin’ in, people just turn away,
They don’t know what to think, man, they don’t know what to say.

Told me that they’d let me know, but I’ll just wait and see,
Third one of those Charlie-Foxtrots, I went on this week,
Saw it in their eyes, man, I know, there ain’t no way
We just come from different worlds, not much else to say.

They closed that door behind me, man, they laughed behind my back,
‘Cause they were all in college while we was in Iraq,
Outside lookin’ in, man, that’s just the way it goes,
Could have, should have, might-have-been, I guess we’ll never know.

But we’ll see who the smart one was, and which one was the fool,
Lots of things we learned in life they don’t teach in school,
They got a head start on nothin’, man, one thing we know for sure,
Win some, lose some, come out even…we all end up in dirt.

Outside lookin’ in, just learned too much too young,
Kind of thing you can never really know unless ya done,
Outside lookin’ in, man, don’t know why or how,
Wish we did or wish we didn’t, too late, for all that now.

Scan the QR code to hear “Outside Lookin’ In,” an original song written and performed by Travis Burns

Travis Burns served in the US Army Infantry from 1987-1991, both on the Korean Demilitarized Zone and in the Persian Gulf War. Travis is a Certified Peer Support veteran advocate, author, and singer-songwriter whose work focuses on veteran suicide, military-specific moral injury, and military families. He teaches beginning guitar classes at the Phoenix and Mesa Vet Centers, and introductory songwriting classes for the ASU Office of Veteran and Military Academic Engagement.