Memorial Day Music Video
We didn't die for this.
I really wanted this song to feature a different voice for each era, with the first voice singing solo on the first chorus but then each subsequent voice joining together with the first so sing harmony on each following chorus.
I also wanted each verse to reflect the style of music from that era but the AI tool I used couldn’t do that. I’ll try again when Memorial Day approaches next year. The tools will no doubt be better by then.
Lyrics
I marched through snow, my feet in rags,
With liberty stitched into my flag.
I bled for words we dared to write,
Dreamt of a land where wrong turned right.
I faced the Redcoats, grit and flame—
A common farmer, not seeking fame.
Now I see mobs in stars and stripes...
My cause betrayed by modern lies.
I didn’t die for this—
For hate draped in the flag.
For truth to fall and tyrants rise,
While honor fades to rags.
I stood for freedom’s kiss...
I didn’t die for this.
I freed the slaves with bayonet,
My brother's blood I won’t forget.
I fought to mend a house divided,
Believing justice still could guide it.
I died in fields of Southern clay,
But now I watch them march that way—
|With torches lit and venom raw,
They desecrate the cause I saw.
We didn’t die for this—
For statues over men.
For bullets blessed by twisted faith,
And marching boots again.
Our oath was not dismissed...
We didn’t die for this.
I stormed a beach for every race,
For love, not walls or pure-blooded grace.
I saw the camps, the smoke, the ash—
Swore “Never again” as my final gasp.
Now books vanish from state-run halls,
And jackboots echo down our malls.|
We knew what fascists looked like then—
Don’t make us fight them all again.
We didn’t die for this—
|For lies dressed up as law.
For profits fed on pain,
While truth is stripped and raw.
Remember what you miss...
We didn’t die for this.
I signed up after the towers' fall,
Believed in justice, heard the call.
But endless war fed hollow pride,
While freedom rotted from inside.
Now I see chants in crimson hats,
And fear masquerades as patriot acts.
We fought abroad to stop this hate—
How dare you bring it through our gate?
We didn’t die for this—
For bigots holding reign.
For silence bought with privilege wide,
While others bear the pain.
We bled for hope, for bliss...
We didn’t die for this.
On Memorial Day,
Remember who we were.
Not shadows in a photo frame—
But voices you must stir.
We didn't die for this...
No, we didn't die for this.