Red 'n' White Blues

They keep putting my country down -- the original 1980 lyrics

    1.
C
Stop and think for a minute
  'Bout this Land of the
    Brave and Free
Two hundred years is short
  But it's a great democracy

     F
They founded a republic
           Fm
  Built it solidly to last
C
Maybe it's gotten big 'n' slow
  But if you look to
     the recent past

     G
Just like a little baby
        F
  We've got all that it takes
C
Just like growin' up
  We've had to
    learn from our mistakes
        an' I get those

G
Red 'n' White Blues when they
  F                       C
  keep puttin' my country down
    2.
       C
Now we don't have Richard Nixon
  To kick us around no more
    And we made a special effort
        To end up Viet Nam's war

       F
And we just quit helpin' Mexico
     Fm
  to paraquat the grass
      C
So Khomeni can take his beads an'
  shove 'em up...
    (let's not be crass)

  G
I know we've still got problems
         F
  And perhaps they've just begun
       C
But at least we've learned
  that freedom doesn't
    come out of a gun
        an' I get those

G
Red 'n' White Blues when they
  F                       C
  keep puttin' my country down
Mindful Webworks / Radical Incline / Red 'n' White Blues, page 2
    3.
  C
I can't defend the stupid things

  Like a country of our size

Still being too proud and too narrow-minded

  To simply apologize
   F
We can't even run our own place
                  Fm
  'cause we're so busy splitting hairs
        C
If we'd mind our own damn business

  We would not be minding theirs

        G
But the way that we've been treated
     F
  Is stickin' in my craw
C
Khomeni wouldn't be around
  if we'd really
    been helping the Shah
        an' I get those

G
Red 'n' White Blues 'cause they
  F                       C
  keep puttin' my country down
    4.
C
Some folks don't trust the Black man

  And some folks fear the Gay

Some folks don't like Disco

  But they trust the C.I.A.

        F
I'm not pointin' any fingers or
            Fm
  Tryin' to tell you how to be
       C
It's a great big blessed country

  And there's room for you and me

      G
And besides the earth is nuclear now
      F
  Not like it was before
           C
This could be the final chapter
  one more war
    will end all war
        and end my...

G
Red 'n' White Blues 'cause we
  F                         C
  wouldn't have no country around....