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Long Whip / Big America Lyrics
Saw the news today, some D.C. suit trying to break away,
said he lost another million
just another old man trying to pass the buck with a dirty hand
good thing he knows his bible
Stick his ass in hell ever better in in this tiny cell
make him understand the meaning
of these words they try to preach just to keep them out of the nations reach
I guess it's all for the better
Take it all away
take me
won't you take me far away
HEY HEY HEY what's that game you play
will it make me richer?
cause I do not have a dime and I hate to waste your time
maybe I'm wrong but I think this whip is too long
now I was barely 21 lying in a ditch with a loaded gun
so I gave my heart away
but I got it back today in a velvet box stamped USA
now all the neighbors call me hero.
I was about to lose my mind so I buckled down and did some crime
but it wasn't what they taught me
hit the road in high pursuit now I'm on the run just like a suit
didn't know it was this easy
Take it all away
take me
won't you take me far away
HEY HEY HEY what's that game you play
will it make me a poor man?
cause I got an extra dime and I lose it every time
maybe I'm wrong but I think this whip is too long
HEY HEY HEY what's that game you play
will it make me richer?
cause I do not have a dime and I hate to waste your time
maybe I'm wrong but I think this whip is too long
No more, no more
see I can't find the time to crawl across the line
but I can't stay here...
No more, no more
see I can't find the time to crawl across the line
but I can't stay here till I die
said he lost another million
just another old man trying to pass the buck with a dirty hand
good thing he knows his bible
make him understand the meaning
of these words they try to preach just to keep them out of the nations reach
I guess it's all for the better
take me
won't you take me far away
HEY HEY HEY what's that game you play
will it make me richer?
cause I do not have a dime and I hate to waste your time
maybe I'm wrong but I think this whip is too long
so I gave my heart away
but I got it back today in a velvet box stamped USA
now all the neighbors call me hero.
but it wasn't what they taught me
hit the road in high pursuit now I'm on the run just like a suit
didn't know it was this easy
take me
won't you take me far away
HEY HEY HEY what's that game you play
will it make me a poor man?
cause I got an extra dime and I lose it every time
maybe I'm wrong but I think this whip is too long
will it make me richer?
cause I do not have a dime and I hate to waste your time
maybe I'm wrong but I think this whip is too long
see I can't find the time to crawl across the line
but I can't stay here...
see I can't find the time to crawl across the line
but I can't stay here till I die
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I think these lyrics are pretty straightforward.
As many people he is astonished as how easy it was for some wall street wolves to get more money than one can possibly earn just working. They show up in TV talking about how many millions they've won/lost today. He (easily) qualified this behaviour as something reprehensible while notices the hipocrisy all around ("good thing he knows his bible"). Definitely, in the lyrics this behaviour is a crime and the author advocates for the worse punishment available. That's the second paragraph:
He also recalls you from the bible above ("these words they try to preach").
Then he starts questioning about how the Wall Street stuff impacts his own life. This happens in the chorus
It varies from richer to poorer/poor man in chorus repetitions along the song.
The author then narrates that as a young man he had not a lot of options, so he enrolled in the army, and that he is now a condecorated hero. But war leaves traces, and as a veteran he was about to get crazy, and "did some crime".
At this time of the song the theme get clear: the author sees some similarities between the Wall Street wolf and the veteran-turned-into-crime. They both try to hide their makings, but the latter couldn't possibly do that for the whole life. (The song doesn't explain if it is due to sanity, or because law enforcement would possibly prevent that behaviour if it spans in time.) At the same time, we are used to see how infrequent it is for a thief-in-a-suit to be stopped by law...