Janis Ian
Roses for the Damned
[Verse 1]
One too many gone, one too many died
All my heroes have been silenced
All the young men marching off in two-four time
Dance to that righteous killer's cadence
[Verse 2]
One too many gone, laying wasted in the sand
Death’s got no feeling for the brave
Crazed men hustling selling guns and ammunition
Bear your rifle, bear your burden, save your children
[Verse 3]
No mean day dream bridal magazine
Promises to wave a magic wand
Advertising confidence, fourteen lesson eloquence
Will teach you how to live beside the bomb
[Verse 4]
High school fools rule, foam from the mouth
Keep you 'til you're old enough to buy
Teachers talk of temperance, allegiance to coincidence
And documents to recompense your pride
[Verse 5]
No one calls on you to live, no one calls you to die (Die)
No one sends roses to crazy old ladies who lie (Lie)
In dark dusty rooms the size of a small foreign car (Car)
Sometimes you wonder where all the good people are
[Verse 6]
Strangers walk the streets in the summer heat
Tempers shorter than a baby’s dryness
Stepping on your shoes, leaving mind and body bruised
Ain't it easy now to kill someone for kindness
[Verve 7]
It'd make a man of any man who's old enough to cry
Surely make a loser feel at home
Blessings on the children of the city when they die
One more overpopulation gone
[Verse 8]
You cannot walk the streets no more, or live in town (Town)
I always thought there'd be somewhere to crawl
When the sky fell down
I'm watching my horizon exploding like a spring too tightly wound
I think the circus is in town