chorus:
so they swept up the mess left the 11th of september
time heals all, still the wound stays tender
brick and stone break bones, but souls won't surrender
good morning america, i will remember
i remember the confusion, the chaos, the casualties
remember feeling helpless as i stared upon the tragedy
had to be mad at the perpetrators of the violence
felt i had to say something, but instead i stayed silent
all eyes on the television, fixed in fear
rallying round the flag like that'd make the madness disappear
now there's nothing wrong with unity, but from beneath the surface
of the hyperpatriotism came a war without a purpose
remember the cold war? we gave the taliban arms
now we drop rations with bombs to keep the pacifists calm
could've sworn we were invincible, land of the egotistical
cry absolute evil, but it ain't that mystical
we wonder why people got beef
when our country's wealth depends on exploiting the middle east
we want peace, but only when peace'll turn a profit
gotta keep that oil flowing, and ain't nothing gonna stop it
now i ain't trying to rain on no one's patriot parade
but the love we take is equal to the hate that we've made
it's the land of the brave, built upon slaves
we filled in the graves to filter the rage
but the guilt'll remain, with the anger and pain
until we realize it's not a simple matter of blame
because for somebody to gain, somebody else has gotta lose
and for anything to change, then everybody's gotta choose
to take responsibility for history
and recognize that privilege stems directly from complicity
with a racist, classist, s**ist system
where money makes the man and millions make a politician
transmitting lies through your television screen
prisons teem with modern-day slaves, is this the bush or byzantine
era? and that's a whole new form of terror
but the evil's always darker on the other side of the mirror
there are those who believe that our direction's divine
and that oppressions of the mind'll be corrected in time
i'm not so sure that's exactly where we're headed, though
and i won't believe it just because some figurehead has said it's so
heroes arose from the ash, that's true
but if the NYPD blue thinks i've forgotten Amadou
they're crazy, it'll take a lot more than that to blind me
and i'll probably take a bullet before i bow to Giuliani
i truly mourn for every life lost up in the rubble
but to me B-U-S-H will still spell trouble
'cause Bush and Bin Laden are both made of flesh
just flawed human beings, being human, god bless
the souls of the dead, and forgive us our sins
in a war against terror, where nobody wins
see i love freedom dearly, ideally, in theory
but in reality, we're not there yet, not nearly
rest in peace to those lost the 11th of september
good morning, america, i will remember.
chorus.
so they swept up the mess left the 11th of september
time heals all, still the wound stays tender
brick and stone break bones, but souls won't surrender
good morning america, i will remember
i remember the confusion, the chaos, the casualties
remember feeling helpless as i stared upon the tragedy
had to be mad at the perpetrators of the violence
felt i had to say something, but instead i stayed silent
all eyes on the television, fixed in fear
rallying round the flag like that'd make the madness disappear
now there's nothing wrong with unity, but from beneath the surface
of the hyperpatriotism came a war without a purpose
remember the cold war? we gave the taliban arms
now we drop rations with bombs to keep the pacifists calm
could've sworn we were invincible, land of the egotistical
cry absolute evil, but it ain't that mystical
we wonder why people got beef
when our country's wealth depends on exploiting the middle east
we want peace, but only when peace'll turn a profit
gotta keep that oil flowing, and ain't nothing gonna stop it
now i ain't trying to rain on no one's patriot parade
but the love we take is equal to the hate that we've made
it's the land of the brave, built upon slaves
we filled in the graves to filter the rage
but the guilt'll remain, with the anger and pain
until we realize it's not a simple matter of blame
because for somebody to gain, somebody else has gotta lose
and for anything to change, then everybody's gotta choose
to take responsibility for history
and recognize that privilege stems directly from complicity
with a racist, classist, s**ist system
where money makes the man and millions make a politician
transmitting lies through your television screen
prisons teem with modern-day slaves, is this the bush or byzantine
era? and that's a whole new form of terror
but the evil's always darker on the other side of the mirror
there are those who believe that our direction's divine
and that oppressions of the mind'll be corrected in time
i'm not so sure that's exactly where we're headed, though
and i won't believe it just because some figurehead has said it's so
heroes arose from the ash, that's true
but if the NYPD blue thinks i've forgotten Amadou
they're crazy, it'll take a lot more than that to blind me
and i'll probably take a bullet before i bow to Giuliani
i truly mourn for every life lost up in the rubble
but to me B-U-S-H will still spell trouble
'cause Bush and Bin Laden are both made of flesh
just flawed human beings, being human, god bless
the souls of the dead, and forgive us our sins
in a war against terror, where nobody wins
see i love freedom dearly, ideally, in theory
but in reality, we're not there yet, not nearly
rest in peace to those lost the 11th of september
good morning, america, i will remember.
chorus.