1
There's colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them
So I try to forget it any way I can
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
There's an old street light (near a garbage can)
Near a garbage can (near a garbage can)
And now she put the kid away and she's gone to get a hit
She hates her life and what she's done to it
There's one more kid that'll never go to school
Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler machine gun hand
We got department stores and toilet paper
Got Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them
So I try to forget it any way I can
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
There's an old street light (near a garbage can)
Near a garbage can (near a garbage can)
And now she put the kid away and she's gone to get a hit
She hates her life and what she's done to it
There's one more kid that'll never go to school
Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler machine gun hand
We got department stores and toilet paper
Got Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit
Rockin' in the Free World Lyrics as written by Neil Young Frank M. Sampedro
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I can't believe how many people have missed the point. The chorus is stingingly sarcastic - the song is attacking the way the US high-fives itself about being the leader of the free world at the same time as it has profound sickness within its society. The versus point out some of the failures and sickness within this society, and some of the ugliest elements of humanity. Then, in the chorus, it is basically saying "but yeah, keep telling yourselves we're awesome and somehow better than everyone else because we declared ourselves so".
Totally agree
@MrBuffle Wow, it took me so many years to get here...<br /> My interpretation is pretty close to yours. This song talks about how US manage external conflict and internal conflict. Critical about both. It says that the democracy we are living in (USA and most western countries) isn't perfect and point out at their flaws. The chorus has two sides, one says like you said, "keep telling yourself you're the best", and the other says "It's not perfect, but it's our world and we need to keep going on and do our best".