The Dust of Uruzgan Songtext
von Lee Kernaghan

In the ring they called me Warlord, my mother calls me Paul
You can call me Private Warren when your filing your report
As to how I came to be here, this is what I understand
In this hospital in Germany from the Dust of Uruzgan

You′d just turned 28, just bought a new car
When you joined the first Battalion of the Big 1 RAR
We were next up for deployment into south Afghanistan
To combat the insurgents in the Dust of Uruzgan

It took seven months of training just to get into the joint
There were pushups and procedures and there was death by Powerpoint
Then the RSO&I course in Ali Al Salaam
But nothing can prepare you for the Dust of Uruzgan

Me and Benny sat together flying into Kandahar
And we sucked back on our near beers in the Camp Baker Bar
We were up at 0530, we were on the Herc and out
And in twenty flying minutes we were in to Tarin Kowt


We shook hands as the boys ripped out from MRTF 1
Pretty soon were out patrolling in the Afghan summer sun
Walking through the green zones with a Styer in my hand
Body armour chafing through the dust of Uruzgan

Well we started up near Choral, working 14 hours a day
Mentoring a Kandak from the Afghan 4th brigade
Down through the Baluchi into eastern Dorafshan
Working under open skies in the dust of Uruzgan

It's a long, long way from Townsville, not like any place you′ve seen
Suddenly you're walking through from the 14th century
Women under burkhas, tribal warlords rule the land
Full of goats, and huts and jingle trucks is the Dust of Uruzgan

And the Education Minister can neither read nor write
And the Minister for Women runs a knock shop there at night
And they've been fighting there for ever, over water, food and land
Murdering each other in the Dust of Uruzgan

Yeah, there′s nothing about the province, that′s remotely fair or just
But worse than the corruption is the endless bloody dust
Fine as talcum powder on the ground and in the air
And it gets into your eyes and it gets into your hair


And it gets into your weapon and it gets into your boots
And when the bureaucrats all show up here, it gets into their suits
And it gets in the machinery and it foils every plan
Well there's something quite symbolic ′bout the Dust of Uruzgan

Still the people can be gracious and they're courteous and smart
And when the children look into your eyes they walk into your heart
Face each day with courage and each year without a plan
Beyond scratching for survival in the Dust of Uruzgan

But the Taliban are ruthless, keep the people terrorised
With roadside bombs and hangings and leaving letters in the night
And they have no useful vision for the children of this land
But to keep them praying on their knees in the Dust of Uruzgan

It was a quiet Saturday morning when the 2 Shop made a call
On a compound of interest to the east of COP Mashal
We had some information they were building IED′s
So we cordoned and we searched it in accord with SOPs

I was on the west flank picket, propped there with Ben
There to keep a watchful eye out, while the other blokes went in
We knew the signs of danger from the TTPs we'd learned
But the Nationals were moving back and forth without concern

We′d been static there for hours when I shifted slightly back
My foot tripped an AP mine and everything went black
I woke up on a gurney, flat out on my back
Had to ask 'em seven times, just to get the facts

Did I live to tell this story, through a simple twist of fate
The main charge lay ten feet away from the pressure plate
You see the mine was linked by det chord to a big charge laid by hand
Hidden under Benny by the Dust of Uruzgan

I was a Queensland champ Thai Boxer, now I look south of my knee
And all I see is bed sheets, where my right foot used to be
Benny's dead and buried underneath Australian sand
But his spirit′s out their wandering through the dust
Through the Dust of Uruzgan

Now I′m going back to Townsville, it's the city of my birth
Well some go back to Ballarat and some go back to Perth
I′ve been living with my mother who's still trying to understand
Why we′re spending blood and treasure in the dust
In the Dust of Uruzgan