My father told me; son, it's futile to resist,
You can topple ideologies but not the armies they enlist.

I questioned the intentions of the boy scouts chanting war.
Well that's the sound of freedom, son, he said.
(Free to say no more).

But wait a minute dad, did you actually say freedom?
Well, if you're dumb enough to vote,
You're fuckin' dumb enough to believe 'em.
'Cuz if this country is so goddam free,
Then I can burn your fucking flag wherever I damn well please.

And then I'm gonna stick it up your fucking ass!

I carried their anthem, convinced it was mine.
Rhymeless, unreasoned conjecture kept me in line.
Then I stood back and wondered, what the fuck had they done to me.
Made accomplice to all that I'd promised I would never fucking be.
Never be.

You carry their anthem convinced that it's yours.
Invitation to honor, invitation to war.
Bette Midler now assumes sainthood.
Romanticize murder for morale.
Tie a yellow ribbon round the oak tree my friend,
And gee Wally, that's swell!

Fuck the troops to hell!
Fuck the troops to hell!