Both Flags

This track comes from Aaron's military service — Air Force enlisted, Army Infantry officer, DoD civilian at SPAWAR/NIWC. It tackles Flying both flags - the American flag of service and the startup flag of innovation - finding peace in the duality rather than fighting it. The lyrics get specific — "By the salt air of Folly, and I'll never let it drop or" — because personal tracks on Majik's are personal for real, not performatively. The indie production matches the energy of the confession. It hits peaceful and resolved, in that order. Every personal track in the catalogue comes from a real moment, a real feeling, a real person. This one is no exception.

[verse 1] There's a flag on my porch, stars and stripes, faded proper By the salt air of Folly, and I'll never let it drop or Touch the ground, because a sailor never forgets The protocol of honor, even after the debts Are paid and the service is a chapter in the book I still salute the colors when I look Up at the fabric that I once wore on my sleeve The flag that I defended, the flag that made me believe In something bigger than myself, bigger than the code Bigger than the startup on this sandy road [chorus] I fly both flags, the one I served and the one I built The nation and the dream, neither one is guilt Or contradiction, they're the same devotion Both flags waving in the Lowcountry ocean Breeze, both flags at full mast The military past and the creative forecast Both flags, and I stand behind them equally Because both flags are me [verse 2] The other flag's invisible but I fly it just as high The startup flag, the builder's flag, the unconventional try Magic Unicorn on the banner, horn pointing north Toward whatever's next, toward whatever we bring forth This flag doesn't have fifty stars but it has infinite ones Every feature shipped, every user won Is a stripe on the banner of what happens when you dare To build something from nothing in the salt air Both flags represent a version of service One to the nation, one to the purpose Of creating things that didn't exist before you showed up Both flags at full mast, both cups filled up [chorus] I fly both flags, the one I served and the one I built The nation and the dream, neither one is guilt Or contradiction, they're the same devotion Both flags waving in the Lowcountry ocean Breeze, both flags at full mast The military past and the creative forecast Both flags, and I stand behind them equally Because both flags are me [bridge] The veteran in me salutes the founder The founder in me thanks the veteran They shake hands across the timeline of my life And agree that both were worth the strife The sacrifice, the risk, the sleepless nights Both in service, both in the fights That mattered, both flag-worthy, both true Both flags, red white and unicorn blue [verse 3] So when the wind blows in from the Atlantic tonight And both flags catch the same Lowcountry light I'll stand on the porch of a life well-combined Military service and the startup grind Aaron Stransky, veteran and founder, son and friend Between two worlds but at peace in the end Because the worlds aren't separate, they never were They're the warp and weft of the same tapestry, sir And the flag that flies the highest is the one that's made Of every thread, every choice, every grade Of experience woven into something whole Both flags at full mast, one man, one soul [chorus] I fly both flags, the one I served and the one I built The nation and the dream, neither one is guilt Or contradiction, they're the same devotion Both flags waving in the Lowcountry ocean Breeze, both flags at full mast The sailor and the founder, the future and the past Both flags, and I stand behind them peacefully Because both flags are me [outro] Both flags flying Same wind Same man Same mission Different uniform Same heart