Wasteland Of The Free

from the album the way i should

by Iris DeMent
©1996 Songs of Iris ASCAP

We got preachers dealin’ in politics and diamond mines
And their speech is growing increasingly unkind
They say they are Christ’s disciples
But they don’t look like Jesus to me
And it feels like I’m livin’ in the wasteland of the free

We got politicians runnin’ races on corporate cash
Now don’t tell me they don’t turn around and kiss them people’s ass
Now you may call me old-fashioned
But that don’t fit my picture of a true democracy
And it feels like I’m livin’ in the wasteland of the free

We got CEO’s makin’ 200 times the worker’s pay
But they’ll fight like hell against raisin’ the minimum wage
And if you don’t like it Mister
They’ll ship your job to some third world country ‘cross the sea
And it feels like I’m livin’ in the wasteland of the free

Chorus:
Living in the wasteland of the free
Where the poor have now become the enemy
Let’s blame our troubles on the weak ones
Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy
Living in the wasteland of the free

We got little kids with guns fightin’ inner city wars
So, what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors
And we call ourselves the advanced civilization
But that sounds like crap to me
And it feels like I’m livin’ in the wasteland of the free

We got high school kids runnin’ ’round in Calvin Klein and Guess
Who cannot pass a 6th grade reading test
But if you ask them, they can tell you
The name of every crotch on MTV
And it feels like I’m livin’ in the wasteland of the free

We kill for oil then we throw a party when we win
Some guy refuses to fight and we call that the sin
But he’s standin’ up for what he believes in
And that seems pretty damned American to me
And it feels like I’m livin’ in the wasteland of the free

Repeat Chorus

While we sit gloating in our greatness
Justice is sinking to the bottom of the sea
And it feels like I’m livin’ in the wasteland of the free