Larry Norman - The Great American Novel lyrics

I was born and raised an orphan in
A land that once was free
In a land that poured it's
Love out on the moon
And I grew up in the shadows
Of your silos filled with grain
But you never helped to fill my empty spoon

And when I was ten you
Murdered law with courtroom politics
And you learned to make a
Lie sound just like truth
But I know you better now and I
Don't fall for all your tricks
And you've lost the one advantage of my youth

You kill a black man at midnight
Just for talking to your daughter
Then you make his wife your mistress
And you leave her without water
And the sheet you wear upon your face
Is the sheet your children sleep on
At every meal you say a prayer you
Don't believe but still you keep on

And your money says in God we trust
But it's against the law to pray in school
You say we beat the Russians to the moon
And I say you starved your children to do it

You are far across the ocean but
The war is not your own
And while you're winning theirs
You're gonna lose the one at home
Do you really think the only way
To bring about the peace
Is to sacrifice your children and
Kill all your enemies?

The politicians all make speeches while the
News men all take note
And they exaggerate the issues as they
Shove them down our throats
Is it really up to them whether
This country sinks or floats?
Well I wonder who would lead us
If none of us would vote

Well my phone is tapped and my lips
Are chapped from whispering through the fence
You know every move I make
Or is that just coincidence?
Well you try to make my way of
Life a little less like jail
If I promise to make tapes and slides
And send them through the mail

And your money says in God we trust
But it's against the law to pray in school
You say we beat the Russians to the moon
And I say you starved your children to do it
You say all men are equal
All men are brothers
Then why are the rich more equal than others?
Don't ask me for the answer
I've only got one:
That a man leaves his darkness
When he follows the Son