State of the Union

Six years old on some sunny street, sky's the limit for your hopes and dreams
You imagine how big your life might be, someday you'll get there, then they'll see
The old man's been home from work the last couple weeks, sits in his chair staring at
The TV, got a drink in his hand but he smiles at you
You think everything's alright but you ain't got a clue about the state, about the state
Of the union

Jobs around here pay the same as they did back in the day when I was a kid, but it cost
Five times as much today to live in a dead end town like this
So you go to school for years to get your degree, get out and get a job that hopefully
Will get you out of debt and get you out of this town
You'll be paying that off till you're in the ground
So you pick up the night shift at a local watering hole, cause old folks around here
can't retire no more
They come shuffling in like the walking dead, they give you all their money to get them
Out of their heads
That's the state, that's the state of the union

It's been about a month now I've had this cough, but I ain't got time to take time off
Besides, what would a doctor tell me I ain't already heard
Probably send me off with some pills and a kind word
Yesterday there was blood in my hand, but they don't cover that with my insurance plan
I'm shoulda put my money into lottery tickets
It's a long shot, but at least shit, there's a chance you could win it
That's the state, that's the state of the union

We go looking for hope, some kind of Savior
Pills, presidents, conspiracies, creators
Trying to find a way through the dark, but it keeps getting later
We just need a way out of this failure

When some folks go, they go all at once
Others go slow over years and months
Some find a way to keep their heads up
Digging their way through the rubble and the rust
In every city, in every small town
Folks are just trying to put food in their mouth
Haggard and staggered and knocked to the ground
They ain't got a choice between get up or stay down
That's the state, that's the state of the union
That's the state, that's the state of the union