Patriot's Heart

If you wanna see something patriotic, there’s a stripper

He don’t look that good, but he’s got an all-American smile

that fills his underwear with all the lonely dollars

from all the lonely men who no one ever suffers

who wait around this bar and spend all their lonely hours

they’re already gone - no one’s running for cover

the farther you run away, the more you have to hide in the dark

white as the worm that crawls in the patriot’s heart

It is so red, white and blue the way he works the bar

selling his embraces like Mr. President or a fallen star

he don’t care babe if you’re worldly or wise

he’s just looking for men with sins in their eyes

and he always says the same thing, he says,

“So, how you doin’, baby? I’m your rod and your staff

and for a tip, you can touch me.

And after a few tequilas, I become something holy.

And this crappy little bar with its sweating mirrors

and its mildewed ceiling are more full of love,

yeah, then even natural selection. And dollar for dollar, babe,

it’s a better bargain. The more you pay,

the more I can break you all apart.”

And dollars pour like ashes from the patriot’s heart.

Now he knows that your good time will kill him,

but the thought of getting old, no it does not thrill him

He says, “Give me all your money and don’t tell me what you’re thinking.

I’m the past you wasted, I’m the future you’re obliterating.”

Oh, come on grandpa! Remind me what we’re celebrating -

that your heart finally dried up or that it finally stopped working?

And how you make a dead man cum?

You learned the undertaker’s art and make ‘em shine

like the alcohol that preserves the patriot’s heart.

We all want a patriot’s heart

Give me your patriot’s heart

You can see him fade with the dawn in a pile of Washingtons

His head is in a spin, he’s happy to pass out again

He would rather fade into the static than hear the violins

that whine like old lovers who whine that they loved him

He would rather laugh alone in the dark with the soft hands of heaven

because they leave him alone with his entertainment system

He does it for the money but he gives more than he’s given

He does it for the money but he gives more than he’s given

and it’s only when he’s naked that he feels his heart

in the whorehouse desert of the patriot’s heart.

We all want a patriot’s heart

We all want a patriot’s heart