the house that war built (revised)
Posted: November 3rd, 2011, 7:35 pm
(revised)
we kicked the imperial bastards out
muskets and paul revere with a shout
wrote of liberty, a new constitution
built a new house from old parts
we pushed west, destiny manifest
freed the natives from their land
gave them windswept mesas
the new house took shape
where all men are created equal
except for half-man slaves, some said
so we marched into our own hell
sacked and burned our own cities
riverbed ghosts clutching a flag
bull run and pickett’s charge
reenacted and still revered
in the house that war built
we fought cowboys and indians
the spanish, the kaiser, the mexicans
the banana belt rogues, and it peaked
we fought the mad fuhrer himself
the specter of self-annihilation
in the house that war built
we fought communists
above all, the communists
their evil agenda in the new tv age
they would come to make us slaves
so we fought them far away
in the house that war built
we voted generals to power
who built their vile industry
war is good for us, we screamed
and the death merchants too
keep us free and employed
in the house that war built
we propped up tyrants
against other tyrants worse
and when deals ran their course
we fought the same bastards again
marched on our own weapons
in the house that war built
we fought insurgents and militants
extremist fanatics, zealots and radicals
fought them all ten thousand miles away
but they kicked the imperial bastards out
wrote of sovereignty, a new constitution
in the house that war built
(2 / 6 / 11)
we kicked the imperial bastards out
muskets and paul revere with a shout
wrote of liberty, a new constitution
built a new house from old parts
we pushed west, destiny manifest
freed the natives from their land
gave them windswept mesas
the new house took shape
where all men are created equal
except for half-man slaves, some said
so we marched into our own hell
sacked and burned our own cities
riverbed ghosts clutching a flag
bull run and pickett’s charge
reenacted and still revered
in the house that war built
we fought cowboys and indians
the spanish, the kaiser, the mexicans
the banana belt rogues, and it peaked
we fought the mad fuhrer himself
the specter of self-annihilation
in the house that war built
we fought communists
above all, the communists
their evil agenda in the new tv age
they would come to make us slaves
so we fought them far away
in the house that war built
we voted generals to power
who built their vile industry
war is good for us, we screamed
and the death merchants too
keep us free and employed
in the house that war built
we propped up tyrants
against other tyrants worse
and when deals ran their course
we fought the same bastards again
marched on our own weapons
in the house that war built
we fought insurgents and militants
extremist fanatics, zealots and radicals
fought them all ten thousand miles away
but they kicked the imperial bastards out
wrote of sovereignty, a new constitution
in the house that war built
(2 / 6 / 11)