Written by Iain Smith
I don't have the same fingering skills, so I have had to simplify the chords for my skill level. Holding off on the Cadd9 change and carrying it over to the G - D line works for some verse. Dust Of Uruzghan – Fred Smith D Cadd9 In the ring they called me “Warlord”, my mother calls me Paul G D You can call me Private Warren when your filing your report D Cadd9 As to how I came to be here this is what I understand G D In this hospital in Germany from the Dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 I had just turned 28, just bought a new car G D When I joined the first Battalion of the Big One RAR D Cadd9 We were next up for deployment into south Afghanistan G D To combat the insurgence in the Dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 It took seven months of training just to get into the joint G D There were pushups and procedures there was death by power point D Cadd9 Then the RSOI course in Ali Al Salaam G D But nothing can prepare you for the Dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 Me and Benny sat together flying into Kandahar G D Sucked back on our near beers in the Camp Baker Bar D Cadd9 Then up at 0530 we were on the Herc and out G D Twenty flying minutes we were in to Tarin Kowt D Cadd9 We shook hands as the boys Ripped out from MRTF one G D And pretty soon were out patrolling in the Afghan summer sun D Cadd9 Walking through the green zone with a Styer in my hand G D Body armor chafing through the dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 We started up near Chora working 14 hours a day G D Mentoring a Kandak from the Afghan 4th brigade D Cadd9 Down through the Baluchi into eastern Dorafshan G D Working under open skies in the dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 It’s a long way from Townsville not like any place you’ll see G D Suddenly you’re walking through from the 14th century D Cadd9 Women under burkhas, tribal warlords rule a land G D Full of goats, and huts and jingle trucks is the Dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 And the Education Minister can neither read nor write G D And Minister for Women runs the knock shop there at night D Cadd9 They’ve been fighting here forever over water, food and land G D Murdering each other in the dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 There’s nothing about this province that’s remotely fair or just G D worse than the corruption is the endless f#*%!ing dust D Cadd9 Its as fine as talcum powder on the ground and in the air G D And it gets in to your eyes and it gets in to your hair D Cadd9 And it gets in to your weapon and it gets in to your boots G D When bureaucrats all show up here it gets in to their suits D Cadd9 It gets in the machinery and foils every plan G D Theres some quite symbolic about the dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 Still the people can be gracious and they’re funny and their smart G D And When the children look into your eyes they walk into your heart D Cadd9 They face each day with courage and each year without a plan G D Beyond scratching for survival in the Dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 But the Taliban are ruthless keep the people terrorized G D With roadside bombs and hangings and leaving letters in the night D Cadd9 And they have no useful vision for the children of this land G D But to keep them praying on their knees in the Dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 It was a quiet Saturday morning when the 2 Shop made a call G D On a compound of interest to the east of COP Mashal D Cadd9 We had some information they were building IED’s G D So we cordoned and we searched it in accord with SOPs D Cadd9 I was on the west flank picket, propped there with Ben G D there to keep a watchful eye out while the other blokes went in D Cadd9 We looked for signs of danger from the TTPs we’d learned G D But the Nationals were moving back and forth without concern D Cadd9 We’d been standing still for hours when I took a quick step back G D Kicked a small AP mine, and everything went black D Cadd9 Woke up on a gurney flat out on my back G D had to ask them seven times just to get the facts D Cadd9 That I lived to tell the story through a simple twist of fate G D The main charge lay ten feet away from the pressure plate D Cadd9 You see the mine was linked by det chord to a big charge laid by hand G D Hidden there under Benny by the Dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 I was a Queensland Champ Thai Boxer now I look south of my knee G D And all I see is bed sheets were my right foot used to be D Cadd9 Benny’s dead and buried underneath Australian sand G D But his spirits out their wandering through the Dust, the Dust of Uruzgan D Cadd9 Now I’m going back to Townsville it’s the city of my birth G D Some go back to Ballarat and some go back to Perth D Cadd9 I’ll be living with my mother who’s still trying to understand G D Why we’re spending blood and treasure in the Dust, the dust of Uruzgan
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