Its all very well knowing how to write
And understanding the need to record
But like falling trees we somehow miss the point
Illiteracy we can ill afford
And thus we fail like every other shallow flawed human endeavor
Oh Sarajevo kids go you to Berlin
And ask about charisma and ideals
But don't forget your notepads
To be used as mirrors
Your ears and eyes the tools of empathy

So regress to students to learn the lessons
To stave off another hundred years
Of this farcical refrain of history
I would laugh if it weren't for the terror
And the killing

We've travelled someway
We've learned to admit
That this ice sculpture might once have been a stream
But I retain my apprehension
As picket lines in Belfast
Throw pipe bombs at their children in the family
We can't let our libraries slip out of our precocious grip

So regress to students to learn the lessons
To stave off another hundred years
Of this farcical refrain of history
I would laugh if it weren't for the terror
And the killing
And the idiocy of repetition
And the conceit of ignorance
And the idiocy of repetition
And the conceit of ignorance
So come on kids lets form another unity movement
That's just what the world needs
And I'm bored to the point of laughter by yet more stickers
Calling to abolish something tired and old
At once we must be teachers and students
And recapture that infant state of mind
And concern ourselves with issues of absorption
And not manifesto

Its not just for me
Or some jaded punk scene
Its a universal need
To educate ourselves
About ourselves
Everybody needs to read more books

So regress to students to learn the lessons
To stave off another hundred years
Of this farcical refrain of history
I would laugh if it weren't for the studious
Look at your face