Merweville, Karoo, Western Cape
Merweville, Karoo, Western Cape
“Boots on Foreign Soil” was written for the nights after the war — not for the parade. It’s for the quiet hours when you’ve returned, but not completely. People see you working, laughing, carrying on — yet only you (and God) know how much of you was left behind on foreign ground.
The song begins where many veterans’ truth begins: dust and smoke in the night air, young people who grow quiet because silence feels safer. In that world you don’t ask big questions about “right or wrong” — not because your conscience is dead, but because your mind is in survival mode. You count your buddy. You count your steps. You scan left and right. You stay alert. You lock your heart down, because an open heart in the wrong moment can get you killed. The lyric says it plainly: “Right or wrong was above our paygrade.” It’s not trying to win a debate; it’s trying to describe what it feels like to live under orders — and then later, to live under memory.
What’s personal to me is how the song doesn’t romanticise God’s presence. It simply says: “You were there — quiet and near.” Not as a movie hero, but as the One who sees you when you can’t even feel yourself. That’s why the chorus stays a prayer: “Lord, hold me on foreign soil.”
Then it moves to the part the world often stops listening to: the years after. The price settles not with gunfire, but with silence. You come home in your body, but your mind wanders outside the country. A smell, a sound, a dream can pull you back to a road with no name. Yet the song carries hope: “Do not fear, I am with you.” The narrator clings to that like a weapon — only this time the protection is mercy.
This is a prayer for survival and restoration: for every veteran learning how to live again on home soil.
ISRC Number: QZNWW2693960
Lyrics & story: Dirk Koen • Vocal: AI-assisted instrument • Production: Dirk Koen
Psalm 121:3–8; Isaiah 41:10
This song rests on the promise that God does not slumber or sleep — He watches, even when we move through dark places (Psalm 121). He guards our going out and our coming in, not only in the moment of danger but also in the years that follow. Isaiah 41:10 speaks directly to the veteran heart: do not fear, for I am with you; I will strengthen and help you. The hope is simple: you are not alone on foreign soil or on home soil — God’s mercy remains your Keeper.
Intro
(Instrumental)
Verse 1 (Afrikaans)
Stewels op vreemde grond, die nag ruik na stof en rook
Ons was jonk, ons was stil—ons doen wat ons moes
Maar tussen bevele en vrees was U daar, Here—stil en naby
Ons loop op paaie sonder name, maar ons hou die tempo vlak
Jy vra nie vrae in daai oomblik nie—jy tel jou maat, jou tree
Kyk links, kyk regs, hou oë oop, hou jou hart toe, hou aan
Reg of verkeerd was bo ons paygrade—ons dra instruksies swaar
Maar later kom die prys sit stil… waar stilte harder praat as skote, jaar na jaar
Chorus 1 (Afrikaans)
Here, hou my vas op vreemde grond
Wanneer ek nie weet wat môre bring
En onder U vlerke leer my siel weer asemhaal en sing
Here, hou my vas…
Verse 2 (Afrikaans)
Daar’s jare ná die oorlog wat niemand ooit “onthou” op staal
Jy kom huis toe in jou lyf… maar jou kop bly buite die land dwaal
Jy glimlag vir familie, jy werk, jy bou, jy speel normaal
Dan hoor ek weer U Woord: Moenie vrees nie—Ek is met jou
En ek klou daaraan soos my wapen… net hierdie keer is dit genade wat my dra en hou
Chorus 2 (Afrikaans variation)
Here, hou my vas op vreemde grond
en ook hier by my eie huis se deur
As herinneringe terug loop in die donker
Hou my vas, Here…
Verse 3 (English)
Boots on foreign soil, with orders in my youth
We marched on borrowed courage, trying hard to hold the truth
I did what I was told to do, to guard the ones back home
Yet war leaves quiet consequences when you’re finally alone
For even in the deepest dark, You never lost my sight
Chorus 3 (English)
Boots on foreign soil, Lord—You held me all the way
When I obeyed and when I broke, when night replaced the day
I live with what it cost me, yet I’m not left to fall
You’re still my Keeper… through it all
Bridge (English)
Not glory for the violence, Lord, but honour for the torn
For those who carried heavy loads, and came back changed, and worn
Bring healing to the hidden parts where only You can see
Your mercy walks… with me
So here I stand on home soil now, yet foreign in my mind
Learning to breathe in gentler days, and leave the war behind
If guilt and grief come marching back, I’ll meet them with this truth
You never slept, You never left—You guarded all my youth
And in the years that follow still, Your mercy walks with me