So relevant still, what ideals does the United States stand for now? The platitudes of the national anthem and ideals of the Constitution ring hollow when you see the reality on the ground, "the Vietnams" (plural intended) that destroy so much at the expense of supposed "democracy." Browne wrote as a young man seeing the real gap between the ideals of the US and the reality, and unfortunately that gap just seems to have grown larger in the years since this song was written.
So relevant still, what ideals does the United States stand for now? The platitudes of the national anthem and ideals of the Constitution ring hollow when you see the reality on the ground, "the Vietnams" (plural intended) that destroy so much at the expense of supposed "democracy." Browne wrote as a young man seeing the real gap between the ideals of the US and the reality, and unfortunately that gap just seems to have grown larger in the years since this song was written.