one’s slow & one’s grumpy
they live in the white house
they have lots of parties the fun never ends
let’s make sure when the day finally comes
time to move out
they don’t hand the keys off to one of their friends
and how long are we gonna put up with this
how long can we keep getting kicked in the head
come back and beg for more
this renegade frat boy is hazing the country
his cronies and yes men all cheering him on
when we beg him to stop he just pulls off our dignity
pins down our arms ’til our spirit is gone
and how long…..
the Miller’s next door, we don’t see them much lately
their kids used to play ’til the light disappeared
and the oldest one, James, so proud in his uniform
let’s see, he would’ve been 20 this year
still you send off our boys with a patriot noise
and you can’t even show up on weekends to serve
you strike up a war to settle a score
yeah you know what it’s for
and you’ve got your nerve
and how long….
what happened to leaders who actually cared
for their places in history, cared for the truth
now we get dimwits who gloat over gimlets
with kerosene eyes and hearts cold as duluth
and how long…
i’d so love to not feel so constantly twisted up
heated, clench-fi sted and chronically mad
no better than those dealing the blows
and spending the time i’ll wish later i had
when you care for the cause,
you act to protect it
when you care for the truth,
you do not correct it
when you care for the earth,
you try not to neglect it
when you care about light,
you help to refl ect it
history’s memory is snap photographic
and history’s eyes have the deadliest aim
but history’s heart will be far from empathic
when it fi nally gets to uncover your game
and how long….
one’s slow & one’s grumpy
they live in the white house
they have lots of parties the fun never ends
let’s make sure when the day fi nally comes
time to move out
they don’t hand the keys off
to one of their friends
kenny white…piano