We carried you in our arms
On Independence Day
And now you'll throw us all aside
And put us all away

Oh, what dear daughter 'neath the sun
Could treat a father so?
To wait upon him hand and foot
Yet always answer, "No"

Tears of rage, tears of grief
Why must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know we're so low
And life is brief

It was all so very painless
When you ran out to receive
All that false instruction
Which we never could believe

And now the heart is filled with gold
As if it was a purse
But, oh, what kind of love is this
Which goes from bad to worse?

Tears of rage, tears of grief
Why must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know we're so low
And life is brief
We pointed you the way to go
And scratched your name in sand
Though you thought it was nothing more
Than a place for you to stand

I want you to know that while we watched
You discovered that no one would be true
That I myself was among the ones who thought
It was just a childish thing to do

Tears of rage, tears of grief
Why must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know we're so low
And life is brief