America Part 1

it’s the dawn of the 21st century
America is still on top
there’s political confusion, social illusion
but its no worse than most folks have got

we read in the papers about the dealers and the rapers
and the wars that are being fought
we see those who are needy
give thanks to the banks that are not

workin’ the 9 to 5
so we can afford our pretty white homes
and if we run out of money buying stuff we don’t need
we can always just apply for a loan

we live in the suburbs with our aunts and our mothers
and our pagers and our cellular phones
and our email, world wide web
so we’re never alone

we give and we give to ourselves
but still we need more
we drink and we drink to our health
pass out on the floor
there is something very wrong with this nation
that we all gladly ignore
rather be ignorant and complacent
than pack our bags and walk out the door

each Sunday the choir fills the churches with such beautiful sounds
then the music trails off
and its back to the noise
of traffic and the smell of downtown

we pass by the whores, the gays, the drunks in the doorways
and we try to keep our eyes on the ground
we snicker at the lost and think,
“man, I’m so glad that I’m found”

we give and we give to ourselves
but still we need more
we drink, yeah, we drink to our health
pass out on the floor
there is something very wrong with this nation
that we all just gladly ignore
rather be ignorant and complacent
than pack our bags and walk out the door

sometimes I find myself asking
“have we come this far?”
if only we could be the country we were
instead of the country we are
except the country we were was built
on the backs of the blacks and the blood of the red
America the beautiful
home for the rich and the graves of the dead

Seth Woods, America Part 1