I thought the girls were silly
back in nineteen sixty five
when they came out against the war
that raged a million miles away
fast for peace their buttons read
proudly pinned upon their chests
feast for war i mocked
my god aren't we the usa
and they fired on us didn't they
my god we blew away
more than half their gas reserve
in that first raid right after tonkin gulf

more intent was I on little Nancy Swope
when she shifted in her seat
and flashed a glimpse of pink
between the buttons of her blouse
but that day the school stopped classes
and on the screen above the blackboard
lyndon johnson came to life
my fellow americans he drawled
i need a hundred thousand more
i swear i saw the words come from his mouth
alive as they could be
i swear i knew right then and there
that they were lies, they were lies

cattle call david called it
when he came home to tricky dick
with some shit that blew us all away
a cattle call it was that caught him
back in sixty six
damn now here it is
more than forty four years later
dave's front teeth are gone
stolen by the demons he brought home
who torment him to this very day

by nineteen sixty nine i was the father
of a newborn baby girl
i carried her one autumn night
among it seemed a million more
up pennsylvania avenue
and placed a single candle on the wall
where a million candles cast their glow
upon the white house lawn
that baby kept me out of war
after i quit school
still i envied those more brave
who burned their cards
and let the pigs drag them away
not long after david took my wife and child
and i drifted west
never was i bitter, though
i liked him anyway

yes i thought the girls were silly
though they were right--but even so
how did they know
how did they know