I reckon it's a subtle criticism of US politics in the Bush Jr era, specifically post-9/11. The sleepwalkers are the ones who are just going along with the rapid changes and dereliction of rights, while those who are angry at the changes are the ones being ironically warned not to "cry out loud" or "stamp your feet".
A couple of things support this (in my view):
He sings "Let the people go by", which reminds me strongly of the line "Let the people crawl inside" in their much older, political song 'We Want a Rock'.
The sleepwalkers are found "all across the country"...
"Perhaps when they awake they'll remember everything / They'll think it was a dream, it'll be forgotten then" is a criticism of the way people are quick to forget past transgressions when it's their political party involved.
I reckon it's a subtle criticism of US politics in the Bush Jr era, specifically post-9/11. The sleepwalkers are the ones who are just going along with the rapid changes and dereliction of rights, while those who are angry at the changes are the ones being ironically warned not to "cry out loud" or "stamp your feet".
A couple of things support this (in my view):
He sings "Let the people go by", which reminds me strongly of the line "Let the people crawl inside" in their much older, political song 'We Want a Rock'.
The sleepwalkers are found "all across the country"...
"Perhaps when they awake they'll remember everything / They'll think it was a dream, it'll be forgotten then" is a criticism of the way people are quick to forget past transgressions when it's their political party involved.