Craig's Brother ― The Thousand Yard Stare

Salah satu karya musik yang jelasin soal PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

Craig's Brother ― The Thousand Yard Stare
Stills by John Fraser-Landry / YouTube

1000 Yard Stare pada umumnya terjadi pada mereka yang telah terlibat peperangan. Selama peperangan berlangsung, dia menyaksikan berbagai kejadian mengerikan. Seperti kepala, kaki, badan yang pecah oleh senapan sampai ke bom. Atau menyaksikan temannya mati perlahan menahan sakit hingga melihat rekannya dibakar hidup-hidup oleh flame-thrower.

Perang telah usai. Dia salah satu pasukan yang selamat dan masih hidup. Tapi di pikirannya, dia ngambang. Masih terngiang dalam pikirannya ragam peristiwa mengerikan yang dia saksikan itu. Dia hanya bisa memandang dengan kosong di sekitarnya. Ketika wajah sudah tidak bisa mengukir emosi. Hanya tatapan mata kosong yang bisa dia lakukan.


Lirik

Now I'm home but I don't care
Cause my mind is still over there
Re-enacting scenes of horror and death.
And this blind, bleak despair
Like I'm running out of air
Growing heavier with every breath.
When at last I thought I'd escaped from the nightmare
It seems I just can't purge my thoughts of those who fell
Giving their lives to advance the plans of a war contractor
Sometime I wish that I had died there...
(Chorus) I can see but I just don't care
Eyes glazed over in the thousand yard stare.
If I could speak for those who speak no more
I couldn't tell you what they gave their lives for.
Was it freedom? Democracy?
Was it misguided policy,
Lashing out in blind irrational fear
Till we can't see our enemies
From the innocent casualties
In the crosshairs of a war profiteer
(Chorus)
I can see miles from here.
I can see all the pain and the despair of arbitrary war.
I can see, I can hear, but I'm miles away from here
There's no coming up for air from the thousand yard stare
And this desperation feels like I'm running out of air
And my countenance is frozen in the thousand yard stare