Bought And Sold

Well we're heading for a past that you leave not defend

Where the downtowns hold the sadness of you can't go back again

It's there you'll find the rust and debtors

Motel signs with missing letters

Cause there's a monster on the outskirts

Says it knows what your town needs

Then it eats it up like nothing and it won't spit out the seeds

And we can be the super shoppers

We can say we're really smart

We can say our town is doing fine without a beating heart

We can even say the money saved is all our own

It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold

And we're heading for a nasty business, keeps our country growing

Where the weapons that we're selling are the only seeds we're sowing

You get to blow the fruits of all your labors

Sell F-16's to all the neighbors

And we know that it's for money

And that's how the west gets bargained

You the know the last time this happened

Even Vietnam got jargoned

And you can say they're out to hunt you

You can say they're out to fish you

You can join a gang of restless boys

Or start your own militia

You can even say your violence is all your own

It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold

Well I look up to the people who are less bought than I

You can show them what you're selling

And they'll only ask you why

And their paychecks don't have lots of zeros

They're my friends and they're my heroes

And the TV sets are angry 'cause they just can't make 'em pay

But I like the way these people read the signs and walk away

And we can call ourselves the makers

And the keepers of the times

We can spend our sand dollars

And sand nickels and sand dimes

We can even say prosperity is all our own

It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold

We can even say our loneliness is all our own

It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold

It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold