I Asked When

Well I dreamed I went out a wanderin'
I heard promises become fables forgotten
I saw bridges stretchin' out across the water
And towers pushing taller

I knew my reality was clearly defined
By the fences put up around my mind
I watched them thicken into walls over time
Taller than any boarder line
I saw civilizations deemed insignificant
I saw people's history tattooed on their skin
I saw families taken from their land
Dynasties shattered and stolen

And I asked when is a revolution
I asked when is a revolution

In all the burdens of centuries accrue
That get passed along to every generation's youth
And all the allegories told in lieu of truth
I watched them grow wild and spread like the flu

I saw the rise of an untamed industry
I watched machines paint a paper economy
I saw my own self stand right in front of me
And I didn't do a thing

I saw poisons pushed in the street
And prescription pills mingling in the mezzanine
With a whole host of wealth of doctors and pharmaceutical companies
Still poor people were dying from disease

And I asked when is a revolution
I asked when is a revolution
I asked when is a revolution
I asked when is a revolution

And I broke down at the break of dawn
I saw new meaning in the clouds above the Pentagon
As real as the Holocaust as strong as the Parthenon
Visions of Sudan Iraq and Vietnam

I stood silent upon a flooded levy
And stared at the ruins of a merchant city
And the president who came to dine with the noble elite
He didn't do a thing

I saw three ships come sailing in
Through the passage of the Caribbean
I saw children coming home in coffins
Millions marching on Washington

And I asked when is a revolution
I asked when is a revolution
I asked when, when is a revolution
I asked when is a revolution