I Asked When

Well I dreamed I went out a wanderin'
I heard promises become fables forgotten
I saw bridges stretchin' out across the water
And towers pushing taller
I knew my reality was clearly defined
By the fences put up around my mind
I watched them thickening the walls over time
Taller then any borderline
I saw civilizations deemed insignificant
I saw people's history tattooed on their skin
I saw families taken from their land
Dynasty shattered and stolen
And I asked when is the revolution
I asked when is the revolution
And all the burdens centuries accrue
They get passed to every generation's youth
And all the allegories told in lewd truth
I watched them grow wild and spread like the flu
I saw the rise of an untamed industry
I watched machines print a paper economy
I saw my own self stand right in front of me
And I didn't do a thing
I saw poisons pushed in the street
Prescription pills mingling in the mezzanine
With the whole wealth of doctors and pharmaceutical companies
Still poor people were dying from disease
And I asked when is the revolution
I asked when is the revolution
I asked when is the revolution
I asked when is the revolution
And I broke down at the break of dawn
And saw looming in the clouds above the Pentagon
As real as the Holocaust, as strong as the Parthenon
Visions of Sudan, Iraq, and Vietnam
And I stood silent upon a flooded levee
And stared at the ruins of a merchant city
And the president who came to dine with the noble
He didn't do a thing
I saw three ships come sailing in
Through the passage of the Caribbean
I saw children coming home in coffins
Millions marching on Washington
And I asked when is the revolution
I asked when is the revolution
I asked when is the revolution
I asked when is the revolution