THE EFFORT LYRICS

"Wartime Citizens"

I feared Jesus until I was twelve,
And then my father until I was seventeen,
Still these convictions I have always held,
Believing in only what I can see,
But with blinders over my eyes what can I really see?

I've thought long on what Bruce said,
That is about being an American born,
Where a beaten dog is drilled into your head,
And we have this fear of anyone who is foreign,
So we create these hateful names to pacify ourselves and to objectify their skin.

Then we turn on the television
And buy more shit we don't even need,
If it makes you feel safe so you can plant more seeds of working bees.
Hey, I was born in the good old US of A,
And I've got dead friends, acquaintances, references, coworkers,
They can all show for it,
And don't forget the barcodes in my wallet,
So can you run my credit and tell me where I belong,
At work or another one of your wars.
This debt is piling up for a life that gives you a good laugh,
The one I want so bad,
The one they promised my family that we could have,
All if we stayed in line and lived by the rules.

I hate that I am just another American,
Who has no idea what the fuck I want,
I guess that makes me the perfect wartime citizen,
Staying in line for the future they will always just taunt
(me on all the school yards, chalkboards, collection bills,
grocery stores, war zones, crime scenes, and blinking screens).

So now every time I'm out of step,
I'm beaten and bruised so it can crush my purpose
(Why were we born this way? Will we really die this way?)
And now this system has shown me nothing yet,
Can be considered close to perfect
(Why were we born this way? Will we really die this way?)

But with these constant wars over our minds,
What were they really expecting to find,
Besides detonated IEDs for brains,
And half living creatures that can't act sane,
Because when you are a wartime citizen,
You can only remember how to listen,
No more breathing, sleeping or eating,
And don't get caught like me speaking,
About all the sad truths.

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