Gil Scott-Heron
Back when Eisenhower was the president
Golf courses was where most of his time was spent
So I never really listened to what the president said
Because in general I believed that the general was politically dead
But he always seemed to know when the muscles were about to be flexed
Because I remember him saying something
Mumbling something about a military industrial complex
Americans no longer fight to keep their shores safe
Just to keep the jobs going in the arms making workplace
And then they pretend to be gripped my some sort of political reflex
All they’re doing is paying dues to the military industrial complex
The military, the monetary
The military, the monetary
The military, the monetary
The military and the monetary
Get together whenever they think it’s necessary
They turn our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They’re turning the planet into a cemetery
The military and the monetary use the media as an intermediary
As they are determined to keep the citizens secondary
They make so many decisions that are arbitrary
We are marching under a commander in chief
Who is standing under a spotlight shaking like a leaf
The ship of state had landed on an economic reef
So we knew he was going to bring us messages of grief
The military and the monetary
Were shielded by January
And went storming into february
Brought us pot-bellied generals as luminaries
I never heard of the son-of-a-bitch
Now all of a sudden he’s legendary
They took the honor from the honorary
They took the dignity from the dignitary
They took the secrets from the secretary
But they left bitch in obituary
The military and the monetary
From thousands of miles away in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary
Had us all scrambling for our dictionaries
Cause we couldn’t understand the fucking vocabulary
Yeah, there was some smart bombs, but there was some dumb ones as well
Scared the hell out of CNN in that Baghdad hotel
The military and the monetary
They get together whenever they think it’s necessary
War in the desert, sometimes sure is scary
But they beamed out the war to all their subsidiaries
So damn insane and we’re the adversary
Keeping the citizens secondary
Scaring the old folks into coronaries
The military and the monetary
From thousands of miles away in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary
Kept us all wondering if this was really, truly necessary
We got to work for peace
Peace can’t come in this way
If we only work for peace
If everyone believed in peace the way they say they do
We’d have peace
The only thing wrong with peace is that
You can’t make no money from it
The military and the monetary
Get together whenever they think it’s necessary
They’re turning our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They’re turning the planet into a cemetery
You got to work for peace
Peace ain’t comin’ this way
We should not allow ourselves to be misled by talk of entering a time of peace.
Peace is not the absence of war
Peace is the absence of the rumors of war
and the threats of war and the preparations for war
Peace is not the absence of war
It is the time when we will all bring ourselves closer to each other
Closer to building a structure that is unique within ourselves
Because we have finally come to peace within ourselves
The military, the monetary
The military, the monetary
The military, the monetary
The military and the monetary
Get together whenever they think it’s necessary
They’re turning our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They’re turning parts of the planet into a cemetery
What you gonna do?
People say, what you gonna do?
We hounded the Ayatollah religiously
Bombed Libya and killed Khadafi’s son hideously
Knowing all you know, what you gonna do?
We turned our back on our allies the Panamanians
And saw Ollie North selling guns to the Iranians
Watched Gorbachev slaughtering Lithuanians
We better warn the Amish
They may bomb Pennsylvanians
The military and the monetary
Get together whenever they think it’s necessary
They have turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They are turning the planet into a cemetery
They’ve got folks out there workin’ for war
Big ol’ lotta money starting the trouble it’s war
Turning this whole planet north and south to war
Start a few rumors over there make money with war
Work for peace
Say it to yourself
I believe we‘ve got to work for peace
Peace ain’t gonna be free, you’ve gotta work for peace
If you believe in peace, you gotta work
I don’t wanna hurt nobody
They got folks out there workin’ for war
Start a little trouble over here, what you got is war
Turn these folks into north and south, it’s war
Tell everybody you know, we gotta work for peace
If you believe in peace, you gotta work
I don’t want to sound like a late night commercial but it is a matter of fact
That there are thousands of children all over the world
In Asia and Africa, and South America who need our help
When they start talking about 55 cents a day and 70 cents a day
I know a lot of folks think that that’s not any kind of contribution to make
When you have to give up a dollar and a half just to get in the subway nowadays
So this is a song about tomorrow
And about how tomorrow can be better
If we all, each one reach one
Each one try to teach one
Nobody can do everything
But everybody can do something
Everyone must play a part
Everyone gotta go to work
Work for peace