| C | A | Dm7 | Dm7

[Verse 1]
         C
We commandeer a corner table
                  Am
At our small-town diner
             Dm7
Just five or six old men
Dm7
Throwin' out corny ol' one-liners
     C
They pat the heads of children
     Am
Give friendly nods to strangers
     Dm7
They sure seem quick to laugh
                                D
Makes you think they're slow to anger

[Chorus]
      F
Those guys were front-line brothers
F
Their lives depended on each other
          Am                   G         C
They were soldiers long before they were men
          F
Yeah, the ones that somehow survived
F
Came home, went on to build their lives
      Am
Never chargin' us a penny
G         C
  For the debt we owe to them
            Em
But you can almost smell the gun smoke
        F
And the foxholes that they shared
       Em
On the days they raise their coffees
    F
And toast the empty chair

[Solo]
| C | Am7 | Dm7 | Dm7

[Verse 2]
        C
They'll ask you where you're from
         Am7
What you do, what you've done
             Dm7
But don't go thinkin' they're all talk
 Dm7
'Cause you wouldn't wanna piss them off

[Chorus]
      F
Those guys were front-line brothers
F
Their lives depended on each other
          Am                   G         C
They were soldiers long before they were men
          F
Yeah, the ones that somehow survived
F
Came home, went on to build their lives
      Am
Never chargin' us a penny
G         C
  For the debt we owe to them
            Em
But you can almost smell the gun smoke
        F
And the foxholes that they shared
       Em
On the days they raise their coffees
    F
And toast the empty chair

[Solo]
| C | Am7 | Dm7 | Dm7

[Bridge]
        G           C               F
They'll tell you anything you wanna know
    G                 C                 F
But there's one place   they just won't go
       Am7              G        F
'Cause they don't wanna ruin our dreams
             C                    Dm7
By tellin' us  the things they've seen

[Chorus]
      F
Those guys were front-line brothers
F
Their lives depended on each other
          Am                   G         C
They were soldiers long before they were men
          F
Yeah, the ones that somehow survived
F
Came home, went on to build their lives
      Am
Never chargin' us a penny
G         C
  For the debt we owe to them
            Em
But you can almost smell the gun smoke
        F
And the foxholes that they shared
       Em
On the days they raise their coffees
    F                     G
And toast the empty chair

[Outro]
                         Dm7
To the brother who ain't there
Dm7
We salute you