Contras, Kings and Generals

Missiles flying in the third world
Towards a people stranded on their knees
Bombs falling over Baghdad
Killing children who are starving by degrees
There are those of us who question:
What’s the goal and what’s the cost?
Six hundred thousand dead malnourished children
A UN-sanctioned holocaust
Missiles flying in the third world
From Hanoi to Wounded Knee
Bombs falling over Baghdad
And each one shouts «Democracy!»
Contras, Kings and Generals
Brandish stars and stripes
From Rangoon to Los Angeles
Selling oil, guns and crack pipes
Missiles flying in the third world
And each one will kill a child
Bombs falling over Baghdad
And hunger and death is running wild
We had to destroy the village
In order to save it
To help this jungle grow
First we had to pave it
Missiles flying in the third world
Fits and starts are everywhere
From the mountains of Chiapas
To the streets of Central Square
Empires fall
This one will too
So here’s to the day
When this one is through