#and WOW is this song harsh! the mocking irony! the ruthless camera eye of the poet aimed at the american legacy!

[cosmogyros]

In my opinion, Chris Smither wrote one of the greatest, pithiest, most brutally critical songs about the American empire of all time:

Diplomacy

We're getting edgy, we'd better find a war There must be something worth fighting for Peace is so peaceful, it ain't no way to survive When nobody hates you, nobody knows you're alive

We got the guns, we got the oilmen too They're like a choir, they wanna sing for you Wham! Bam! Slip slidin' away You know, the less you got, the more you gonna pay

You want it, you'll get it We got what you need You ain't got to sweat it We gonna make you bleed

We got some freedom, we got the iPod store We got the savior, you couldn't ask for more Take it or leave it, that's the deal of the day But if you leave it, you'll get it anyway

You want it, you'll get it We got what you need You ain't got to sweat it We gonna make you bleed

Get your coat on, you ain't supposed to laugh This ain't a joke, it's an epitaph It's the rise and the fall, that's the name of the game It's the land of the free, the blind leading the lame It's the land of the free, the blind leading the lame