- Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
One September night, I fell asleep in the United States of America, and I've spent many years trying to figure out where the hell I woke up... :(
I fell fast asleep one September night
in the United States, but since the dawn's early light
I've spent so many long years, choked-up
trying to figure out where the hell I woke up
Whether the world really changed, no one can agree
after the day that we all forgot how to be free
A most Unpatriotic Act to exploit people's fear
railroaded to get Manufactured War back in gear
For all the world to see, our National Insecurity
became a show of international immaturity
The Poverty Draft hijacked the Few & the Proud
while turning the flag into a burial shroud
And the rocket's red glare, drones cutting thru the air
dashed hopes day & night that their towns would be spared
Silence answered their prayers as the uranium dust settles
sowing dragon's teeth for the next generation's battles
"Mission Accomplished" said the Chickenhawk Administration
A pre-emptive strike, the next chapter of Low Expectations
No rule of law, just Shock & Awe
Total Information Awareness for all
Perilous, anything but hilarious
scheming nefarious, no Age of Aquarius
This is the New American Century
Pax Americana, more Manifest Destiny
Enron, Halliburton & no-bid contracts
Blackwater slam-dunk, cash "bricks" in Iraq
Too many scandals to keep track
but I just want my country back



(chorus)
I want my country back
Return to the Land of the Free
Get the Great Experiment back on track
and restore justice & liberty

It's time we faced the facts
our Republic's been hijacked
All our freedoms under attack
that's reason enough to act

I want my country back
Is this still the Home of the Brave?
As all of our foundations crack
is there anything left to save?

Don't let Red, White & Blue fade to black
I want my country back



No change of horse, gotta Stay the Course
and keep going the wrong way, of course
with yet another display of force
To stay divorced from facts, armchair soldiers
keep crossing borders & "turning corners"
around the same block of funeral mourners
Just following orders, each week, a new excuse for why
our kids will stay in harm's way 'til the oil runs dry
Just mindless flag-waving while they stole our savings
enslaving others people's children to feed our cravings
Rantings & ravings, we gave an inch, they took a mile
Gathering "intelligence" files, with Cheshire Cat smiles
to prosecute others for crimes they should stand trial
and so United We Sit, one nation in denial
All the while, Faith-Based Voting & scads of loose chads
let all the voting public know they've been had
A tale of betrayal, of failsafes that failed
Too Big to Fail, but not too big to Bail
For want of a nail, took us all hostage for a trillion bucks
So if all our lives are really worth that much
perhaps it's time we all started living like it
and claim your slice, no matter how small the pie gets
Amoral amortization of our lives for labor
years slaving away for worthless scraps of paper
Yes We Can, sabotage infrastructure beyond belief
from the power grid & rural lines to disaster relief
We remain Occupied, both at home & abroad
Housing bubbles, banking & college loan fraud
Poverty & pollution's all they give back
More oil to drill & water tables to frack
Our prosperity keeps getting looted & sacked
but I just want my country back



(chorus)
I want my country back
to return to the Land of the Free
The Great Experiment back on track
and restore justice & liberty

It's time we faced the facts
our Republic's been hijacked
All our freedoms under attack
that's reason enough to act

I want my country back
Is this still the Home of the Brave?
As all of our foundations crack
is there anything left to save?

Don't let Red, White & Blue fade to black
I want my country back



Stop pretending there'll be a happy ending
until there's nothing left worth defending
The future's being decided here & now
Become the example, showing the world how
With liberty & justice for all
opportunity & prosperity, not Great Walls
Put the lamp back by the Golden Door
and see human progress restored
Make a stand for the this land
against those who had a hand
Together band we can demand
this corruption will not stand...


Make America Late Again™, falling behind the times
of the 21st Century's ever-shifting paradigms
The American Dream™ reduced to an infomercial
living a montage that's nothing but a dress rehearsal
Climate on the brink of hotter, don't drink the water
just liquid bread & circuses, brought to you by these sponsors
Lobbyists buying legislation & vexatious litigation
Industry Capture, secret laws & Shadow Regulation
Capitulation, every henhouse "guarded" by a Fox
Left in the cold, so bury your heart at Standing Rock
While Wall $treet moochers sold out our futures
with police armed & armored like stormtroopers
Catch-22 surveillance laws that make no sense
Since when was jaywalking a capital offense?
Hands up! Don't shoot! Can't breathe! Stay Woke!
When only Blue Lives Matter, police stops are no joke
Week after week, their dirty secrets sprung a leak
just a squeak, when you're afraid to speak
Freedom's pulse grows weak, no time for waiting
on Chief Executive Orders, just stunts for ratings
For the world's most plutocratic populist
Tell us, can no one put a stop to this?
Can we become our own heroes & save the day
to make truth & justice the American Way
Career politicians & hacks, cronies & quacks
They won't be stopped by "evidence" or facts
No matter how deep the deck is stacked
we're going to take our country back



(everybody)
We want our country back
to return to the Land of the Free
The Great Experiment back on track
to restore justice & liberty

It's time they faced the facts
The Republic they've hijacked
We have reason enough to act
We just need a plan of attack

We want our country back
This is still the Home of the Brave
Even if the foundations crack
There's still something left to save

Sold out our future in this present past
We want our future back
Human progress going nowhere fast
We want our country back

And we'll keep on fighting
No matter how deep the deck is stacked
Too many wrongs still need righting
We're taking this country back

Won't let Red, White & Blue fade to black
We want our country back
Chapter End Notes:
-2003 - Spring, 2017