Two days past eighteen, he was waiting for the bus and his army green sat down in a booth in a cafe there, gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair he's a little shy so she gave him a smile and he said would you mind sitting down for a while and talking to me? I'm feeling a little low she said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go so they went down and they sat on the pier he said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care I got no one to send a letter to would you mind if I sent one back here to you? I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy too young for him they told her waiting for the love of a traveling soldier our love will never end waiting for the soldier to come back again never more to be alone when the letter said the soldier's coming home so the letters came from an army camp in California then Vietnam and he told her of his heart he might be loving all of the things he was so scared of he said when it's getting kind of rough over here I think of that day sitting down at the pier and I close my eyes and see your pretty smile don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy too young for him they told her waiting for the love of a traveling soldier our love will never end waiting for the soldier to come back again never more to be alone when the letter said the soldier's coming home guitar solo one Friday night at a football game the Lord's Prayer said and the anthem sang a man said folks would you bow your heads for a list of local Vietnam dead crying all alone under the stands was a piccolo player in the marching band and one named Red and nobody really cared but a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy too young for him they told her waiting for the love of a traveling soldier our love will never end waiting for the soldier to come back again never more to be alone when the letter said the soldier's coming I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy too young for him they told her waiting for the love of a traveling soldier our love will never end waiting for the soldier to come back again never more to be alone when the letter said the soldier's coming home guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo