American Pie, Revisited

With apologies, and heartfelt thanks, to Don McLean

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How my country used to make me smile.
And I knew if we had our chance
That freedom would let life advance
And, maybe we’d be happy for a while.

But politicians made me shiver
With every new bill they’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I don't remember if I cried
When 9/11 crushed our pride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day our freedom died.

So bye-bye, miss american pie,
More important than our freedom,
Is the need to comply.
Them good old boys are lynchin' freedom on high
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that you die.
"this’ll be the day that you die."

So they rewrote the book of law,
With safety as the major draw,
and Congress then declared it so.
Now we believe in rule of man,
They change the law because they can,
And then they claim that's how it's always been.

Well, I know that you’re in love with them
`cause I saw you votin’ in the gym.
You let them steal your shoes,
Just to sing those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage hippy freak
With a lot of love and a bag of weed,
But I knew I was screwed indeed
The day that freedom died.

I started singin’,
"bye-bye, miss american pie.
More important than my freedom,
Is the need to comply."
Them good old boys are lynchin' freedom on high
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that you die.
"this’ll be the day that you die."

Now for twelve years we’ve been in their grasp
And liberty, she's fadin' fast,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the people marched for the end of war,
Killin' our kids on foreign shores,
In a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the world was looking down,
The guard, they shot the children down.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.

And while Lennon preached the book of Marx,
The soldiers practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day that freedom died.

We were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie.
More important than our freedom,
Is the need to comply."
Them good old boys are lynchin' freedom on high
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that you die.
"this’ll be the day that you die."

Faster, faster to a dollar disaster,
Fed Reserve is a dollar crasher,
Worth four cents and falling fast.
The housing market had to crash
The bankers walked off with the cash,
With the people who had bought them on their ass.

Now the evening air was filled with fumes
As Occupiers met their doom.
We all worked to advance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the people tried to take the field;
The One Percent refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day that freedom died?

We started singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie.
More important than our freedom,
Is the need to comply."
Them good old boys are lynchin' freedom on high
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that you die.
"this’ll be the day that you die."

Oh, and here we are all in one place,
Our Founder's dreams are lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: politicians need to go
Thus rings the cry of those who know
Cause freedom is the people's only friend.

Oh, and as I watch them on the stage
My hands are clenched in fists of rage.
No plan, that I can tell,
Can break those satans' spell.

And as the flames climbed high into the night
To underscore the human plight
I watched them laughing in delight
The day that freedom died.

Now they're singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie.
More important than your freedom,
Is the need to comply."
Them good old boys are lynchin' freedom on high
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that you die.
"this’ll be the day that you die."

I met a man who said we're free
And I asked him to work for me
But people laughed and turned away.
I went down to the sacred polls
Where I'd lost my freedom years before,
But the people said that freedom wouldn't play.

And in the streets: protestors screamed,
Freedom died while the people dreamed.
Our votes were just a token;
The Liberty Bell was broken.

And the three men I admire the most
Were all dismissed as ancient ghosts
The rule of law an empty boast
The day that freedom died.

And now we're singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie.
More important than our freedom,
Is the need to comply."
Them good old boys are lynchin' freedom on high
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that you die.
"this’ll be the day that you die."

Now we're singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie.
More important than your freedom,
Is the need to comply."
Them good old boys are lynchin' freedom on high
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that you die.
"this’ll be the day that you die."




...and that's all I have to say about that.