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Lyrics

(Verse 1)
Dust clouds rise over the Tartar Wall
The summer sun is a burning ball
The Legation gates are bolted tight
Against the shadows of the coming night
Ten thousand voices scream at the gate
But one lone Marine is deciding their fate
With a steady hand and a cold, blue eye
He’s ready to fight and he’s ready to die.
​(Chorus)
Through smoke and fire, he heeds the call
An American badass, standing tall!
From the shores of home to the Peking mud
He writes his legend in sweat and blood
The fiercest devil the world has seen
A leatherneck soul, a U.S. Marine!
​(Verse 2)
The Boxers charge with the flash of steel
But he’s got a rhythm they’re gonna feel
His Lee-Metford barks a deadly tune
Under the glow of a crimson moon
He’s a one-man wall, a storm of lead
Counting the seconds by the ground he’ll tread
They call him a demon, they call him a ghost
But he’s just the man who guards the post.
​(Chorus)
Through smoke and fire, he heeds the call
An American badass, standing tall!
From the shores of home to the Peking mud
He writes his legend in sweat and blood
The fiercest devil the world has seen
A leatherneck soul, a U.S. Marine!
​(Bridge)
Fifty-five days in a living hell
Waiting for the ring of the rescue bell
Rations are low and the water is foul
But they hear the bark of his battle growl
He doesn’t back down, he doesn’t retreat
He won’t let the colors taste defeat
For the Corps, for the flag, for the brothers beside
He’s the unstoppable force of American pride!
​(Guitar/Brass Solo - High Energy)
​(Verse 3)
The walls are chipped and the banners are torn
But a legend of the East is being born
When the relief column finally breaks the line
They find him standing, doing just fine
He wipes the soot from a jagged scar
The brightest light under the Western star
A hero’s heart in a soldier’s frame
Peking will never forget his name.
​(Chorus)
Through smoke and fire, he heeds the call
An American badass, standing tall!
From the shores of home to the Peking mud
He writes his legend in sweat and blood
The fiercest devil the world has seen
A leatherneck soul, a U.S. Marine!
​(Outro)
Semper Fi in the dragon’s lair
Death and glory in the summer air
Yeah, he’s a U.S. Marine...
The baddest man Peking’s ever seen...
(Fade out with heavy drum cadence and trumpet fanfare)