Brand New

Do you remember little Johnny from down on the corner?
   Yeah, he died last week of a drug overdose.
   And young Susie, who used to pick flowers from our yard?
   Did you know she committed suicide last year?



The world's falling down around us,
   yet here we stand,
   facing hand in hand.



And I'm begging everyone out there,
   to anyone who's listening,
   to look around and see the light,
   the stars in the middle of the night.




Break free of your rusty old cages,
   shake off the decrepit decaying chains of oppression,
   scrape off the rust,
   shake off the dust,
   and do something that's a whole lot of fun,
   and maybe a little dangerous.




Tell the preachers and the teachers,
   the messiahs and the creatures,
   the Susies and the  Johnnies,
   the Bretts and the Bonnies,
   tell them to leave you to your fate.




Tell it to the newsman,
   the taxman,
   the lame man and the stray man,
   the winners and the losers,
   the victims and the choosers,
   this is your life.




And take everything you love, 
   and everything you hate,
   ball it up and throw it in the bin,
   like this messy writ sheet of paper.




Light the world up in flames,
   not of destruction,
   but of warmth and healing,
   because there's not enough caring,
   and there's not enough feeling,
   and the stomach of the mechanical monster shall be set reeling,
   in an attempt to cover up our crimes of joy and the highs we're dealing,




Who are you waving that flag for?
   In remembrance of the Susiesand Johnnies?
   Because I want to remember us as free and wild,
   with the strength of ten men and the mind of a child.



I want to remember the innocence we threw away,
   in exchange for drugs and minimum pay.



I want to speak of the tales of old,
   where good men sought dames instead of false gold.


So tell this to any Susie you meet, 
   and to any Johnny you greet,
   stay a while,
   crack a smile.


And if it doesn't get any better,
   start again,
   brand new.