Marching band.
What's the first thing you think of when you hear it?
Geeky, out of place kids holding or hitting big pieces of metal,
Making stupid 80's references and talking about dungeons and dragons?
Well, you're not entirely wrong.

In the marching band:
We're a selective breed, us band folk. 
We're the mess, the melting pot, the fanatics,
The popular, the jocks, the thespians, the goths
And yet all crazy enough to do this moving art

Because in the marching band there's a myriad of colorful people 
From all walks of life
You've got the arrogant trumpets
The quiet flutes
The dashing saxophones
The adament lows and the dysfunctional pit
And then there's the color guard.

In the marching band, multitasking is key:
We memorize all of our specific spots
We learn the grueling music
We understand the importance of counting
All while perfectly in sync. 

In the marching band we learn all of this we burn to death 
In the middle of August
Just to freeze to death 
In the short season that we do have
To just make it worth it all

Although in the marching band
There's something more to it
There's more, I swear!
It's not just a bunch of dorks, dweebs, 
Losers, and outcasts coming together
No-
It's about being together
To my left and my right I see more than my peers

And yes in the marching band those nerds are my family
My brothers, my sisters,
My sons and my daughters
And when I leave, all of my knowledge, everything 
I was and could be as a captain was for them

For I do not live for myself, in the marching band
In the marching band, I live for everything else.
I live for all the geeks,
Proud enough to call themselves members:
The new, bold enough to try
And the old, stupid enough to stay
I live for the music:
Challenging enough to push me yet
Riveting enough to make me sing it year after year
I live for the guard work:
Frustrating to learn
And memorable enough to do it again the next year

In turn, the marching band lives for you:
You are welcome
You are accepted
You are family

In the marching band
I am home.