Released: September 3, 1991
Songwriter: Bobby Sheehan John Popper
Producer: Jim Gaines
Lies, well they're okay
More elaborate every day
Truth, well it's here too
What can you make it do for you?
Greed, it's just a drive
Do what you can to stay alive
Peace, it's just a dream
So rock and roll and kick and scream
Now won't you tell me if you like what you've just heard?
And if you think the point I'm driving at absurd
Well there's no need to tell me how or tell me why
But I need to know the reason not to try
Cause if you look around you might just feel like me
And you might notice no one was ever really free
And maybe, just maybe for now that's how it's supposed to be
Could be so far we've only earned the right to barely see
The poison has infected you
Have no fear I'm infected too
War, they come and go
No telling where the wind will blow
Pain was always there
Sad reminder that you care
Hate, the price you pay
For thinking you got the only way
Now won't you tell me if you like what you've just heard?
And if you think the point I'm driving at absurd
Well there's no need to tell me how or tell me why
But I need to know the reason not to try
Cause if you look around you might just feel like me
And you might notice no one was ever really free
And maybe, just maybe for now that's how it's supposed to be
Could be so far we've only earned the right to barely see
Barely see [x4]
Let's see [x2]
For your parents Ellis Island
What had they gone through?
And if you descend from the Mayflower
Well they were running too
They were running from England
Who was warring with France
Who would conquer Spain
Given half of a chance
But it was the Muslims
Who had gotten there first
When there wasn't the bloodshed
Then there was the thirst
And a hate for the Christians
The infiltrators of Rome
You know that once mighty empire
Who made Africa home
The poor, noble Egyptians
Oh, the hardships they braved
Remembering the good times
With Judea enslaved
And the Israelite nation
The very children of God
Killing Palestine's children
And I'm finding it odd
The Earth, a piece of fruit
Don't blame the maggots when they loot
Life, just a game we play
Try to live just one more day
Space, our final hope
Throw the drowning man a rope
The choice is for us to say
Completely change or fade away
Now won't you tell me if you like what you've just heard?
And if you think the point I'm driving at absurd
Well there's no need to tell me how or tell me why
But I need to know the reason not to try
Cause if you look around you might just feel like me
And you might notice no one was ever really free
And maybe, just maybe for now that's how it's supposed to be
Could be so far we've only earned the right to barely see
I really couldn't say for sure
Like everyone else I know
I'm just looking for the cure
More elaborate every day
Truth, well it's here too
What can you make it do for you?
Greed, it's just a drive
Do what you can to stay alive
Peace, it's just a dream
So rock and roll and kick and scream
Now won't you tell me if you like what you've just heard?
And if you think the point I'm driving at absurd
Well there's no need to tell me how or tell me why
But I need to know the reason not to try
Cause if you look around you might just feel like me
And you might notice no one was ever really free
And maybe, just maybe for now that's how it's supposed to be
Could be so far we've only earned the right to barely see
The poison has infected you
Have no fear I'm infected too
War, they come and go
No telling where the wind will blow
Pain was always there
Sad reminder that you care
Hate, the price you pay
For thinking you got the only way
Now won't you tell me if you like what you've just heard?
And if you think the point I'm driving at absurd
Well there's no need to tell me how or tell me why
But I need to know the reason not to try
Cause if you look around you might just feel like me
And you might notice no one was ever really free
And maybe, just maybe for now that's how it's supposed to be
Could be so far we've only earned the right to barely see
Barely see [x4]
Let's see [x2]
For your parents Ellis Island
What had they gone through?
And if you descend from the Mayflower
Well they were running too
They were running from England
Who was warring with France
Who would conquer Spain
Given half of a chance
But it was the Muslims
Who had gotten there first
When there wasn't the bloodshed
Then there was the thirst
And a hate for the Christians
The infiltrators of Rome
You know that once mighty empire
Who made Africa home
The poor, noble Egyptians
Oh, the hardships they braved
Remembering the good times
With Judea enslaved
And the Israelite nation
The very children of God
Killing Palestine's children
And I'm finding it odd
The Earth, a piece of fruit
Don't blame the maggots when they loot
Life, just a game we play
Try to live just one more day
Space, our final hope
Throw the drowning man a rope
The choice is for us to say
Completely change or fade away
Now won't you tell me if you like what you've just heard?
And if you think the point I'm driving at absurd
Well there's no need to tell me how or tell me why
But I need to know the reason not to try
Cause if you look around you might just feel like me
And you might notice no one was ever really free
And maybe, just maybe for now that's how it's supposed to be
Could be so far we've only earned the right to barely see
I really couldn't say for sure
Like everyone else I know
I'm just looking for the cure
more tracks from the album
From the album
- Travelers and Thieves (1991)
Blues Traveler popular songs
- Hook
- Run-Around
- But Anyway
- Free Willis (Ruminations from Behind Uncle Bob’s Machine Shop)
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong
- Support Your Local Emperor
- Rage
- Regarding Steven
- Gloria
- Manhattan Bridge
- But Anyway (live edit)
- Sadly A Fiction
- Fledgling
- Gotta Get Mean
- Diner
- She and I
- Sweet Talking Hippie
- Stand
- Love And Greed
- Justify The Thrill
- Optimistic Thought
- You, Me and Everything
- Carolina Blues
- The Gunfighter