Released: July 15, 2008
Songwriter: John Mellencamp
Producer: T Bone Burnett
Put your guns out on the table
Throw your bullets on the floor
This weary old house can’t take it anymore
From the ovens in the kitchen
To the chains out in the dirt
Rope hanging in the bedroom
That’s some of our dirty work
The distant sleeping shadows
That lie out in the yard
The wind that distorts the meaning
Of who we really are
Saluting of ourselves
As we pass by our mirrors
This show of phony adulation
Just masquerades all our fears
So we open our eyes at midnight
See the setting of the sun
Foundation is crumbling
The inner structure’s gone
Used up by corruption
And the passage of time
We hope we got some fight left
'Cause our children
Our children are dying
So we think that forgiveness
Is a God-given right
And equality for all
Is just a waste of our time
With our nickel-plated Jesus
Chained around are necks
Handing out verses of scripture
Like we wrote it down ourselves
Respect that we once had
Went up the water spout
Tried to keep it secret
But the secret was found out
Got to thinking high and mighty
Like everything was a lock
Some now say this house
Can be taken without a shot
So the hole gets dug deeper
With every wedding bell
And we sell each other down the road
Till there’s nothing left to sell
And slowly but surely
We disappear without a trace
We point our fingers at each other
And say what the hell happened to this place
Without a shot
Without a shot
Without a shot
Throw your bullets on the floor
This weary old house can’t take it anymore
From the ovens in the kitchen
To the chains out in the dirt
Rope hanging in the bedroom
That’s some of our dirty work
The distant sleeping shadows
That lie out in the yard
The wind that distorts the meaning
Of who we really are
Saluting of ourselves
As we pass by our mirrors
This show of phony adulation
Just masquerades all our fears
So we open our eyes at midnight
See the setting of the sun
Foundation is crumbling
The inner structure’s gone
Used up by corruption
And the passage of time
We hope we got some fight left
'Cause our children
Our children are dying
So we think that forgiveness
Is a God-given right
And equality for all
Is just a waste of our time
With our nickel-plated Jesus
Chained around are necks
Handing out verses of scripture
Like we wrote it down ourselves
Respect that we once had
Went up the water spout
Tried to keep it secret
But the secret was found out
Got to thinking high and mighty
Like everything was a lock
Some now say this house
Can be taken without a shot
So the hole gets dug deeper
With every wedding bell
And we sell each other down the road
Till there’s nothing left to sell
And slowly but surely
We disappear without a trace
We point our fingers at each other
And say what the hell happened to this place
Without a shot
Without a shot
Without a shot
more tracks from the album
From the album
John Mellencamp popular songs
- Jack & Diane
- Pink Houses
- Hurts So Good
- Small Town
- Check It Out
- Authority Song
- Rain on the Scarecrow
- I Need a Lover
- Cherry Bomb
- Nothing’s for Free
- Cold Sweat (Live)
- Wild Night (Acoustic version)
- Crazy Island
- The Face of the Nation
- Days of Farewell
- Get a Leg Up
- Rodeo Clown
- When Margaret Comes to Town
- I Ain’t Ever Satisfied
- Junior
- Just Like You
- Lonely Ol’ Night (live)
- Great Mid-West
- Take Home Pay