Until It Happens to You

You walk past an activist, who is talking on the street
About political prisoners, locked up in your own home state
And you think just for a minute, you think just for a second
Then you say, "That can't be true!
'Cause I live in the land of the freedom
Where no one gets the screw!"

You turn your face, you turn your back
You say, "That can't be true!"
You stay safe lost in your prefab world
'Cause you're sure it won't happen to you
You're sure it won't happen to you
Just wait 'til it happens to you!

You've heard it every day, since the first day of your life
But you never stopped to think, what you heard was full of lies
You can't think just for a minute, can't think just for a second
'Cause you're nothing but a tool
Whose thoughts are tailored and fashioned
Each night by the evening news

You turn your face, you turn your back
You say, "That can't be true!"
You stay safe lost in your prefab world
'Cause you're sure it won't happen to you
You're sure it won't happen to you
Just wait 'till it happens to you!

You could stand on the street, talk 'til you're blue in the face
And they would not make you stop, 'cause you have no power base
But if Dan Rather got on the evening news
And said, "It's time for revolution!"
The F.B.I. would fuck him up so bad
He'd wish he wasn't living!

They call it America, "Land of the free, home of the brave"
And they call it America, "Land of the free, home of the brave"
Yeah, they call it America, "Land of the free, home of the brave"
More to the truth it's a murderer, it's the land of the enslaved!
Enslaved! Enslaved! Enslaved! Enslaved! Enslaved!

You turn your face, you turn your back
You say, "that can't be true!"
You stay safe lost in your prefab world
'Cause you're sure it won't happen to you
You're sure it won't happen to you
You're sure it won't happen to
Sure it won't happen
Sure it won't happen to you!