'tis of thee 
 
they caught the last poor man 
on a poor man's vacation 
they cuffed him and confiscated his stuff 
they dragged his black ass down to the station 
and said, ok, the streets are safe now 
all your pretty white children can come out and see spot run 
and they came out of their houses 
and they looked around 
but they didn't see no one 
 
my country 'tis of thee 
to take swings at each other on the talkshow tv 
why don't you just go ahead and turn off the sun 
cuz we'll never live long enough 
to undo everything they've done to you 
undo everything they've done to you 
 
above 96th street 
they're handing out smallpox blankets so people don't freeze 
the old dogs have got a new trick 
it's called criminalize the symptoms 
while you spread the disease 
and i hold on hard to something 
between my teeth when i'm sleeping 
i wake up and my jaw aches 
and the earth is full of earthquakes 
 
my country 'tis of thee 
to take swings at each other on the talkshow tv 
why don't you just go ahead and turn off the sun 
cuz we'll never live long enough 
to undo everything they've done to you 
undo everything they've done to you 
 
they caught the last poor man 
flying away in a shiny red cape 
they took him down to the station 
and they said, boy, you should've known better 
than to try to escape 
i ran away with the circus 
cuz there's still some honest work left for bearded ladies 
since they put everyone in jail 
exceot the cleavers and the brady's 
 
my country 'tis of thee 
to take swings at each other on the talkshow tv 
why don't you just go ahead and turn off the sun 
cuz we'll never live long enough 
to undo everything they've done to you 
undo everything they've done to you