American Middle Class

Tear this poorhouse down
When you know how to build it back
Hammer a nail between your heart and your hometown
'til you can carry this country on your back

Mama glued the Keds signs
on the back of my little white shoes
Daddy never crossed the picket line
it was hard but we made it through
only had one little pair of stonewashed jeans
with a label on the back
I'm a product of the never-give-up
American middle class

Tear this poorhouse down
When you know how to build it back
Hammer a nail between your heart and your hometown
'til you can carry this country on your back

I got my education at a school they could afford
Scholarships went to the rich
and the grants went to the poor
so I stood behind the little downtown bar
for spending money, books, and gas
To be a certified member of the work-too-much
American middle class

Now daddy can't get his pension or Social Security
Worked thirty damn years in a coal mine
Feeding welfare families
Struggle hard and hide it well,
You sure ain't rich and you sure as hell
Ain't poor enough to get one little break
'cause everything would collapse
Without the hardworking, God-loving members of
the American middle class

Tear this poorhouse down
When you know how to build it back
Hammer a nail between your heart and your hometown
'til you can carry this country on your back