I Asked When


-----------------------------------| ------1---1--1---1-1-1-------------| ------0---0--0---0-0-0-------0-0---| ----0-0h2-2--2---2-0-2---0---0-0---| -0h2--3---3--3---3-3-3---0h2-2-2---| -------------------------3---3-3---| ^strum^ ^strum^ Capo on 9th C G Well I dreamed I went out a wanderin’ C G I heard promises become fables forgotten C G I saw bridges stretchin’ out across the water C G And towers pushing taller C G I knew my reality was clearly defined C G By the fences put up around my mind C G I watched them thickening the walls over time C G Taller then any borderline C G I saw civilizations deemed insignificant C G I saw people’s history tattooed on their skin C G I saw families taken from their land C G Dynasty shattered and stolen C D G And I asked when is the revolution C D G I asked when is the revolution And all the burdens centuries accrue They get passed to every generation’s youth And all the allegories told in lewd truth I watched them grow wild and spread like the flu I saw the rise of an untamed industry I watched machines print 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 Prescription pills mingling in the mezzanine With the whole wealth of doctors and pharmaceutical companies Still poor people were dying from disease And I asked when is the revolution I asked when is the revolution I asked when is the revolution I asked when is the revolution And I broke down at the break of dawn And saw looming in the clouds above the Pentagon As real as the Holocaust, as strong as the Parthenon Visions of Sudan, Iraq, and Vietnam And I stood silent upon a flooded levee And stared at the ruins of a merchant city And the president who came to dine with the noble 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 the revolution I asked when is the revolution I asked when is the revolution I asked when is the revolution