The Dust of Uruzgan Chords by Lee Kernaghan, Fred Smith

[Dm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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In the ring they call me Warlord, my mother calls me Paul.
You can call me Private Warren [C] when you're filing [Em] your report.
_ _ [D] As to how I came to be [Dm] here, this is what I understand.
In this hospital in Germany [G] from the dust of [Dm] errors. _ _ _ _ _
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_ _ You just turned 28, [G]
just bought a new car, when you joined the [Dm] 1st Battalion [Em] of the Big
One R.A.R.
We [D] were next up for deployment into South Afghanistan to combat the insurgents, [G] the
dust of [D] errors game. _ _ _ _
_ It took 7 months of training just to get into the joint.
There were push-ups and procedures and there was [C] death by [Em] power point.
[D] Then the RSO and I course in Al-Yal-Salam, but nothing can prepare you [G] for the dust of [D] errors game.
Me and Benny sat together flying into Kandahar.
We sat back on our near beers in [C] the Camp Baker [Em] Bar.
[D] We're up at 0530, we're on the Hercon out, and in 20 flying minutes [C] we're in the [Em] Tarrant Kout.
[D] We shook hands as the boys ripped out from MRTF-1.
Pretty soon we're out patrolling in the [C] [Em] Afghan summer sun.
[D] Walking through the green zone to the sky are in my hand, body armour chafing [C] through
the dust of [E] errors [Dm] game. _ _ _
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_ _ Well we started up near Chora, working 14 hours a day.
A mentor and a Kandak [C] from the Afghan [Em] 4th [D] Brigade.
Down to the village, into eastern Dharufshan.
Working under open skies [C] in the dust of errors [D] game.
It's a long, long way from Townsville, not like any place you've [Dm] seen.
_ Suddenly you're walking [C] through the 14th century.
[G] Women under [Dm] Birkits, tribal warlords rule the land.
For the goats and huts and [G] jingle trucks, it's the dust of errors [D] game.
And the education minister can neither read nor write.
And the minister for women [C] runs a knock shop [Em] there at night.
And they've [D] been fighting there forever, over water, food and land.
Murdering each other in [C] the dust of [D] errors game. _
_ _ _ _ There's nothing about the province that's remotely fair or just.
But worse than the corruption [C] is the endless bloody dust.
[Dm] Fine as talcum powder on the ground and in the air.
And it gets into your eyes, [C] and it gets into [Em] your hair.
[D] And it gets into your weapon, and it gets into your boots.
And when the bureaucrats all show [C] up here, it gets into their [Em] suits.
And [D] it gets in the machinery, and it foils every plan.
But there's something quite symbolic [C] about the dust of [D] errors game. _
_ _ _ _ Still the people can be gracious, and they're courteous and smart.
And when the children look into your eyes, [C] they walk [Em] into your heart.
_ [D] Faced each day with courage, and each year without a plan.
Beyond scratching for survival, [C] in the [G] dust of [D] errors game. _ _
_ _ _ And the Taliban are ruthless, keep the people terrorised.
With roadside bombs and hangings and [C] leaving letters in [Em] the night.
[D] And they have no useful vision for the children of this land.
To keep them preying on in [C] these, the dust [G] of errors [Dm] game. _
It _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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_ [Dm] _ _ _ [D] was a quiet Saturday morning, when the two shop made a [C] call.
On a [D] compound of interest, [C] to the east of Coppershaw.
[D] We had some information, they were building IEDs.
So we cordoned and we searched it, [C] in [Em] accord with SOPs.
[D] I was on the west flank picket, prop there with Ben.
Better keep a watchful eye out, [C] while the other [Em] blokes went in.
We knew the [D] signs of danger, from the TTPs we'd learned.
But the nationals were moving back [C] and forth [Em] without concern.
[D] We'd been static there for hours, when I shifted slightly back. _
My foot tripped an AP mine, [C] and everything went black.
[Em] _
[D] I woke up on a gurney, flat out on my back.
I had to ask them seven times, [C] just to get the [Em] facts.
That I lived [D] to tell this story, through a simple twist of fate.
The main charge lay ten feet [C] away, from the [Em] pressure plate.
You see [D] the mine is linked by det cord, to a big charge laid by hand.
Hidden under Benny, of the dust of errors game.
_ _ _ _ _ I was a Queensland champ tie boxer, now I look south of my knee.
And all I see is bed sheets, where [C] my right foot used to [Em] be. _
[D] Benny's dead and buried, underneath Australian sand.
But his spirit's out there, wandering [C] through the dust. _ _
[Em] _ Through the dust of [D] errors game. _ _
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