Another Age

There's a man walking round the island with a snake cane
He picked it up in Thailand from a hurricane
And you know he's not gonna go there
He's been one time too long
Now all the games are gone
The younger boys are drowning in a shallow sea
The night belongs to snipers in palm trees
And their sabres flash like lightning
In the charge of the last brigade
They must have been afraid
Soldiers have their sorrow
The wretched have their rage
Pray for the aged, it's the dawn of another age
Of another age
Of another age
Of another age
And the blood's running down the blackboard in a fine stream
The convicts shake the cages of a bad dream
And they'll coach you in the classroom
That it cannot happen here
But it has happened here
The cockroach cops are crawling on a battleground
The shields are in the shadows; it's a college town
And they'll teach you law and order
If you dare to raise your hand
Spare the glove and spoil the man
Soldiers have their sorrow
The wretched have their rage
Pray for the aged, it's the dawn of another age
Of another age
Of another age
Thomas Paine and Jesse James are old friends
And Robin Hood is riding on the road again
We were born in a revolution
And we died in a wasted war
It's gone that way before
The dogs are chasing chicken bones across the lawn
If that was an election, I'm a Viet Cong
So I pledge allegiance against the flag
And the fall for which it stands
Pledge allegiance to the land
Soldiers have their sorrow
The wretched have their rage
Pray for the aged, it's the dawn of another age
Of another age
Of another age
Of another age
Of another age