The Great American Novel

This song has been in my head lately.  Although some of the lyrics are dated, the sentiment is true today.

I was born and raised an orphan in a land that once was free
In a land that poured its love out on the moon
And I grew up in the shadows of your silos filled with grain
But you never helped to fill my empty spoon

And when I was ten, you murdered law with courtroom politics
And you learned to make a lie sound just like truth
But I know you better now and I won't fall for all your tricks
And you've lost the one advantage of my youth

You kill a Black man at midnight just for talking to your daughter
And you make his wife your mistress, and you leave her without water
And the sheet you wear upon your face is the sheet your children sleep on
And at every meal you say a prayer. You don't believe but still you keep on

And you money says 'In God We Trust"
But it's against the law to pray in school
You say we beat the Russians to the moon
And I say you starved your children to do it.

You are far across the ocean in a war that's not your own
And while you're winning theirs, you're gonna lose the one at home
Do you really think the only way to bring about the peace
Is to sacrifice your children and kill all your enemies

The politicians all make speeches and the newsmen all take notes
And exaggerate the issues as they shove the down our throats
Is it really up to them whether this country sinks or floats
Well I wonder who will lead us if none of us would vote

Well my phone is tapped and my lips are chapped from whispering through the fence
You know every move I make, or is that just coincidence
And you try to make my way of life a little less like jail
If I promise to make tapes and slides and send them through the mail

And your money says "In God We Trust"
But it's against the law to pray in schools
You say we beat the Russians to the moon
And I say you starved your children to do it

You say all men are equal- all men are brothers
Then why are the rich more equal than others
Don't ask me for the answers, I've only got one
That a man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son.

~ Larry Norman