American Dreams Songtext
von Flobots

The whole world is watchin′
The whole world is watchin'
Somethin′ in my family tree is rotten
The whole world is watchin'
The whole world is watchin'
Somethin′ in my family tree is rotten


Ancestors so grotesque
Plans of destiny to go west
Manifest bleeds protest
10 million rest in peace below depths
Oh no
Oh yes (oh yes)
No struggle, no progress (progress)
Bend the rules, run the jewels
40 acres and a mule and no less (no less)
Who claims to know best though
Who′s trained to protect those
Some of those who burn crosses also arraign and arrest those
Some of those current losses this fiscal year are exceptional
They've got more guns than Destro
Make ′em disappear like presto
I wrote this rap to pray for another life, castaway
Now that's more settlement cash to pay
But that won′t bring daddy back today
That's just more petals at the grave
The moonlight saw that display
So what more can we do, my God
When there′s nothing left to say
Meet me at the gate and say "kumbaya"

Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up


Momma was a bloody knuckled valedictorian
Poppa was a comet from the quarry and tobacco fields
Cover me in notes of old hickory and Moses
The cotton linen blends the benefits of forbidden yields
Black feet move without reservations
Our bodies wall the streets
And we resume our occupations
And claims of common sense
More cautious than Caucasian condiments
Black cowboys are real
But they ain't myths
And black avengers show up before the crowd'll get pissed
And the milk goes as sour as a counterfeit kiss
We can still make a pound of biscuits
Get some fish
And feed a crowd of misfits
Where the lyricists spit
The merits of the heretic
Is where the patriot lives
And we hate to relive
What it takes to forgive
Can′t forget what we did
Better yet let′s amend
To protect next of kin
By accepting our sins

Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up

Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up
Scheming for a way to stay up
Dreaming of the day I wake up