The Kids' War

What's that rotten smell?

The stench of morning headlines

Someone's trying to sell a war of ignorance

With newspapers passed out in our schools

And every morning children recite an oath to fools

Oh no, those are words my lips won't make

I couldn't fake blind allegiance

To a dead ideal while kids follow what I say

I should have hit the lights and said "STOP!

Kids you're writing your own pledges now

And if you need ideas I'll tell you when I was your age...

Yes you could see me, dancing in the streets

In front of soldiers, in battle armor, called the state police

I saw my parents standing next to me

And I thought 'This is what it's like to bring your kids up right'

And I looked up and smiled"

Thinking people can't be mind controlled

History knows this

So we'll teach our children to be skeptical of the government

They'll question all the lies they're ever told

They'll be fearless when they stop worshiping the flagpole

And reject what they've been sold

Then you will hear them, dancing in the streets

A sea of children singing so loud the sound is deafening

This war machine will collapse in disbelief

And the hawks will lose their wings and cry

For forgiveness for their crimes

And the kids will nod and smile