Now that your eyes have finally opened Are you wondering how they must feel? Those who you’ve called colorful, noble and proud In your school propaganda books and spoken aloud You never learned how they were starved in their splendor You asked for my comment, here I will render
Now that the long-houses breed superstition You force us to send our children away To schools where they’re taught to despise their traditions You forbid them their languages, then further you say
That American history really began When Europe set sail, then stress That the nation of leeches that conquered this land Are the ones more civilized than all of the rest
And yet where in your history books is the tale Of the genocide basic to this country’s birth Of the preachers who lied, how the bill of rights failed How a nation of patriots returned to their earth?
Hear how the bargain was made for the west: Children dying of exposure in zero degrees Blankets for your land, so the treaties attest Blankets for land is a bargain indeed
And yet a few of the conquered have somehow survived Their blood runs the redder though genes have paled From the Grand Canyon’s caverns to craven sad hills The wounded, the losers,the robbed sing their tale
The past it just crumbled, the future just threatens Our life blood shut up in your chemical tanks And now here you come, bill of sale in your hands And surprise in your eyes that we’re lacking in thanks
For the blessings of civilization you’ve brought us The lessons you’ve taught us,the ruins that you’ve wrought us -- See what our trust in America’s brought us
My country ‘tis of thy people you’re dying
The pride of the sires receives charity We’re harmless and safe behind their laws My life’s to be known as your “heritage” Even the graves have been robbed Our own chosen way is a novelty Hands on our hearts We salute your victory Choke on your blue, white and scarlet hypocrisy Blind, ignorant nations is all that we see
That the eagles of war Whose wings lent you glory They were never no more Than carrion crows They pushed the wrens from their nests And stole their eggs A historical whitewash-- re-writing their story
The mockingbird sings it, it’s all that he knows “What can I do?” say a powerless few With a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye Their destruction is profiting you Their poverty’s profiting you