Not so long ago, in Oklahoma The son of an Okie preacher, knelt to pray He said Lord I wanna be a Christian soldier, just like you And fight to build a new, and better day Now many years and miles, from Oklahoma That same young Okie boy still kneels to pray But he don't pray to be no Christian soldier, anymore He just prays, to make it through, another day 'Cause it's hard to be a Christian soldier, when you tote a gun And it hurts to have to watch a grown man cry But we're, playin' cards, writin' home, an' havin' lots of fun Tellin' jokes and learnin' how to die You know the things I've come to know, seem so confusin' And it's gettin' hard to tell, what's wrong from right I can't separate the winners from the losers anymore And I'm thinkin' of just givin' up the fight 'Cause it's hard to be a Christian soldier, when you tote a gun And it hurts to have to watch a grown man cry But we're, playin' cards, writin' home, an' ain't we havin' fun Turnin' on and learnin' how to die