What are we gonna do? Said the hungry child to a father with empty hands What are we gonna do? When the smoke clears And reveals no promise land What are we gonna do? I don't know, it's a long long way to go. What are we gonna do?
Sparse across the table like a pile of fallen leaves She stares down at unpaid then up at him And unaware the journey that his father made for him But when the man asked for his papers
He replied with empty hands
And from the graves we dig for dreams, not realize
Do you hear these muffled cries What are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do? And who is going to whistle for our sins
Could it be you? Or me When they left our fingerprints What are we gonna do? I don't know, it's a long, long way to go What are we gonna do?
Somewhere in the spaces of a 9 round magazine The cowards pull the triggers at the seams And the apple of our eyes cannot survive these sharpened teeth Like Abraham and Isaac We will sacrifice and like it And when the sun sets We will wait here patiently We fall sleep but we dont dream
What are we gonna do? Said the lion to the lamb As they drew lines in the sand Said the trees to the man
When there were no seeds left to plant
Said the widow to the grave
As her roses fade away Said the hills to the sky As they kissed our last goodbye
Said the worker to the chief Acts like a boss, more like a thief Said the ocean to the shore As the tides grow more and more
Said the soldier to the priest What is it that I should believe? Said the desert to the rain When will you visit us again?
How do we explain To children dancing in the rain What are we gonna do?