G                         D
they caught the last poor man
C
on a poor man's vacation
G                                    D
they cuffed him and confiscated his stuff
C
they dragged his black ass down to the station
G                                  D
and said, ok, the streets are safe now
C
all your pretty white children can come out and see spot run
G                              D
and they came out of their houses
C
and they looked around
C
but they didn't see no one

G                D 
my country 'tis of thee
C
to take swings at each other on the talkshow tv
G                                   D
why don't you just go ahead and turn off the sun
C
cuz we'll never live long enough
                             G                   D
to undo everything they've done to you
C
undo everything they've done to you

G              D    
above 96th street
C
they're handing out smallpox blankets so people don't freeze
G                             D
the old dogs have got a new trick
C
it's called criminalize the symptoms

while you spread the disease

G                          D
and i hold on hard to something
C
between my teeth when i'm sleeping
G                       C
i wake up and my jaw aches
C
and the earth is full of earthquakes

G                   D
my country 'tis of thee
C
To take shots at each other on prime time tv
G                                     D  
why don't you just go ahead and turn off the sun
C
cuz we'll never live long enough
G                                  D
to undo everything they've done to you
C
undo everything they've done to you

G                          D
they caught the last poor man
C
flying away in a shiny red cape
G                          D
they took him down to the station
C
and they said, boy, you should've known better
C
than to try to escape
G                      D
i ran away with the circus
C
cuz there's still some honest work left for bearded ladies
G                                     D
it’s not the same going from town to town
C
since they put everyone in jail
C
except the Cleavers and the Bradys


G                    D
my country 'tis of thee
C
to take swings at each other on the talk show  t.v.
G                                 D    
why don't you just go ahead and turn off the sun
C
cuz we'll never live long enough
G                           D
to undo everything they've done to you
C
undo everything they've done to you