There’s a child
Sitting in the sandbox,
Playing with a
Plastic pail and shovel,
When another child
Toddles up behind him
And takes the plastic
Shovel away.
And the child starts to cry
And, announcing his pain,
He wails,
“MINE!!!”

There’s a girl
Heading out to recess,
Running with her
Friends across the playground.
But a group of girls
Follows close behind her
To call her names and
Laugh at her hair.
And the girl starts to cry
And, to deal with the pain,
The girl . . .
Tells.

There’s a boy
Standing at his locker,
Taking out his
Books and his assignments.
But some other boys
Rip away his book bag
And kick the contents
Clear down the hall.
And the boy wants to cry,
But he locks all the pain
Deep inside.

Why are you so ugly?
And why are you so fat?
And don’t you wear deodorant?
What’s the deal with that?
And why are you so stupid?
And who picks out your clothes?
‘Cause I would rather die than be
Spotted wearing those!
And ev’ry time I see you,
I think I’m gonna gag
‘Cause God! You’re such a loser!
And God! You’re such a fag!
And God! You’re still a virgin?!
(Or) God! You’re such a whore!
And God! It would be great not to
See you any more!
‘Cause no one really likes you
Or wants to be your friend.
And why you even matter
Is hard to comprehend.
You’re so completely worthless.
So why not go ahead
And do the world a favor
And JUST DROP DEAD?

Well, maybe the grown-ups
Should step up and pass legislation.
The grown-ups will know how
To deal with this whole situation . . .

There’s a tribe --
Largely unmolested --
Living as they’ve
Lived for generations
‘Til the foreigners
Multiply in number
And rip their very
Culture away . . .

You must sign this treaty
And let us use your land
‘Cause we have great ambition
And borders to expand.
And yes, we do respect you
And don’t mean to impose --
But switch to our religion
And go put on some clothes!
And alter your traditions
And let us break your laws
And grant us more concessions
To help advance our cause
And let us take your oil
And give us all your gold
And all your coal and timber
That’s waiting to be sold.
And don’t cause any problems
Or rock the boat, ‘cause we
Expect you to assimilate,
Not to disagree.
For if you’re not an ally
On which we can rely,
Then we’ll just have to force you
To MOVE OR DIE!

I grant you, it’s sad that
That’s part of the tale of our nation,
But that’s just because they
Lived outside of civilization . . .

There’s a man
Much like any other,
Working hard to
Try and raise a fam’ly.
But society
Isn’t so accepting
And tries to take his
Freedoms away . . .

If your skin is diff’rent
Or if your eyes are odd
Or if you don’t have money
Or don’t believe in God
Or if you are a woman
Or from a foreign land,
Then you’re a lesser person
And we’ve the upper hand.
If we don’t think you’re worthy,
Then you won’t get to vote.
And if you’re here illegally --
Get back on the boat!
And if you’re homosexual,
We won’t let you wed
‘Cause God has things to say about
What you do in bed!
And if you don’t agree with us
Right on down the line?
Then you’re unpatriotic
And you don’t get to whine.
So don’t subvert our morals
And don’t deface our flags,
‘Cause we don’t brook dissension
And GOD HATES FAGS!

Well, maybe we all could learn to
Just . . .
Get along? . . .

There’s a world
Full of life and wonder
Held in the em-
Brace of Mother Nature
‘Til a single group
Starts to feel entitled
And thinks that it’s the
Master of All . . .

Humankind is special
And better than the rest
‘Cause God gave us dominion
And now we know what’s best.
And ev’rything must serve how we
Live and what we grow.
The sheep and cows are fine
But the wolves have got to go.
And fuck the spotted owls,
‘Cause we can use the trees!
And dolphins best look out when we’re
Harvesting the seas!
And animals will cope if our
Pipelines ever break.
We’ll justify the means with the
Profits that we make!
And don’t say global warming is
Any real concern,
‘Cause we’ve still got a bounty of
Fossil fuels to burn!
And ev’rything is fine, ‘cause we’re
Sep’rate from the rest,
‘Cause humankind is special
And WE KNOW BEST!

. . .

There are spheres
Littering the Cosmos
Much like ours but
So far undiscovered
‘Til the fateful day
Human beings find them
And travel out to
Make them our own . . .