Gil Scott-Heron – Work For Peace

Lyrics

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
Then they pretend to be gripped by some sort of political reflex
But all they’re doing is paying dues to the Military Industrial Complex

The Military and the Monetary
The Military and the Monetary
The Military and the Monetary
The Military and the Monetary
Get together whenever they think its necessary

They turn our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They are turning the planet into a cemetery
The Military and the Monetary, use the media as intermediaries
They are determined to keep the citizens secondary
They make so many decisions that are arbitrary

We’re marching behind a commander in chief
Who is standing under a spotlight shaking like a leaf
But 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
Two weeks ago I hadn’t heard of the son of a bitch
Now all of a sudden he’s legendary

They took the honour from the honourary
They took the dignity from the dignitaries
They took the secrets from the secretary
But they left the bitch an 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 fuckin 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 its necessary
War in the desert sometimes sure is scary
But they beamed out the war to all their subsidiaries
Tried to make So Damn Insane a worthy adversary
Keeping the citizens secondary
Scaring old folks into coronaries

The Military and the Monetary
From thousands of miles in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary
Kept us all wondering if all of this was really truely, necessary

We’ve got to work for Peace
Peace ain’t coming 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
They get together whenever they think its necessary
They’ve turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They are turning the planet, into a cemetery

Got to work for Peace
Peace ain’t coming this way

We should not allow ourselves to be mislead
By talk of entering a time of Peace
Peace is not the absence of war
It is the absence of the rules of war and
The threats of war and the preparation 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 and the Monetary
The Military and the Monetary
The Military and the Monetary
Get together whenever they think its necessary
They’ve turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They are turning parts of the planet, into a cemetery

The Military and the Monetary
The Military and the Monetary
We hounded the Ayatollah religiously
Bombed Libya and killed Quadafi’s son hideously
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 the Pennsylvanians

The Military and the Monetary
Get together whenever they think its necessary
They have turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries
They are turning the planet, into a cemetery

I don’t want to sound like no late night commercial
But it’s a matter of fact that there are
Thousands of children all over the world
In Asia and Africa and in 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 feel as though that
Thats not really any kind of contribution to make
But we had to give up a dollar
And a half just to get in the subway nowadays

So this is a song about tommorrow
And about how tommorrow 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 got to go to work, Work for Peace

Spirit Say Work, Work for Peace
If you believe the things you say, go to work
If you believe in Peace, time to go to work
Can’t be wavin your head no more, go to work