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