LAST TO DIE

Album's version

We took the highway till the road went black
We'd marked, Truth Or Consequences on our map*
A voice drifted up from the radio
And I thought of a voice from long ago

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
The last to die for a mistake
Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break
Who'll be the last to die for a mistake

The kids asleep in the backseat
We're just counting the miles, you and me
We don't measure the blood we've drawn anymore
We just stack the bodies outside the door

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
The last to die for a mistake
Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break
Who'll be the last to die for a mistake

The wise men were all fools, what to do

The sun sets in flames as the city burns
Another day gone down as the night turns
And I hold you here in my heart
As things fall apart

A downtown window flushed with light
"Faces of the dead at five" (faces of the dead at five)
Our martyr's silent eyes
Petition the drivers as we pass by

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
The last to die for a mistake
Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break
Who'll be the last to die

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake
The last to die for a mistake
Darlin' your tyrants and kings fall to the same fate
Strung up at your city gates
And you're the last to die for a mistake

Page last updated: 06 Oct 2007

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, this song was released on Bruce Springsteen's 2007 album, Magic. The above lyrics are for the album's version.

The song was recorded during the Magic recording sessions which took place between March and May 2007 at Southern Tracks Studios, Atlanta, GA.

It is obvious that the title of this song is taken right from a statement John Kerry made to congress in 1971 upon returning from his service in Vietnam (http://usliberals.about.com/od/extraordinaryspeeches/a/KerryVietnam.htm). There is no question, after Springsteen's famous and outspoken campaigning for Kerry in 2004, that he was aware of this quote:

"We are asking Americans to think about that because how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" -- John Kerry, 23 Apr 1971

* Truth Or Consequences is a town in New Mexico.

Thanks Keith and Ugo C for the lyrics corrections. Thanks David Varet for the info about the John Kerry statement.