You play the firing squad; I'll be the target

I'll just stand here broken-hearted and amazed

You are the angry mob, I hear you callin'

Your Straw-man Gallows swing with

hunger unrestrained

(Chorus)

You've raped my eyes wide open

Now it's easy to see (it's easy to see)

How you'd say I'm guilty of treason

So un-American

Just don't call me blind

Reach over cotton fields; look past the jungles

Post-cards from Wounded Knee and burning desert hells

So long as you can sleep clear of your conscience

Leave future history to those who write so well

(Chorus)

I swear my allegiance to the memory

The shadow

Of a nation that could have been

I swear my allegiance to the memory

The shadow

Of a nation that never was

(Chorus)