It was nineteen sixty five
Thought the summer would never end
Bought myself a red impala
It was more then a car my friend.
I thought I was a king
Race the trains across the railroad track
Went everywhere with that car
All the way to hell and back.
But pretty soon the war hit home
Who'd ever heard of Vietnam
But we did what we were asked
Went off and fought for Uncle Sam.
It was a different time
I was just a kid
Some of us came back home
Some of my friends never did.
I remember when I came home
Sat in the yard at night and stared
into space
It wasn't the world I left behind
A different time, a different place.
The car sat in the garage
The paint was still bright red
But I couldn't drive it
I thought might as well be dead.
For it was DaNang sixty six
The day the earth shook
A week later I awoke
Both my legs they had took.
But that was back then
A long time ago
I found scars do heal
But getting there can be slow.
I met a girl two years later
Showed me how to love and care
And now she drives that red impala
Love watching the breeze blow
through her hair.
It's amazing what you take or granted
Especially when it isn't there anymore
But what I found with that girl
Was worth the loss, and even more.
(c)2008 T. La Fountain