TO THE GREATEST GENERATION (From an aging baby boomer) You had World War II and we had Vietnam You had Reefer Madness while we had Cheech & Chong You fought for our freedom and we fought to refine it The stumbling block with freedom is in how you define it We grew up in comfort as long as we were white While those with darker skin tone fought for their civil rights We looked at their struggle and gave them our support Took it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court Then we fought each other across our great divide War and love, hawks and doves, we had to take a side "Peace is not an option! We need to stop those Reds! And quit smoking that dope! It's messing with your head!" "No!" we said, "That's not the way! We need to love each other! Black and white, yellow and red, it's time we lived as brothers! Bring the troops back home now! We need to end the war! Legalize marijuana! Tax the rich and feed the poor!" 58,000 soldiers wound up dying overseas The war reached its conclusion and both of us were pleased We left them to fight alone and that did not work well Reality kicked us in the ass the day that Saigon fell From Vietnam to Watergate was such a short transition After all was done and said we kicked out Richard Nixon His war on drugs continued and took many casualties Which was felt the harshest among all minorities The Soviet Union fell and so we lost one enemy Followed by religious wars against theocracies America tries to lead the world but it will not be led While half the country turns to blue the other half stays red Is this a better world now? Well I find that hard to say The country's rife with people who want to take it all away They're all longing for a time when their white privilege ruled Leaving them too blind to see that they have all been fooled The chasm between rich and poor has grown enormously While politicians make it hard to climb from poverty Racism's less obvious but still alive and well If you're a minority the cops still give you hell We're winning the war on drugs, pot's nearly legalized Sometimes I think we need it just to face the daily lies We're told that we can't believe the things that we can see They won't get away with it, on this we must agree We have gotten old now while you are nearly gone I write this as a tribute to the struggle you took on The greatest generation had the greatest generation gap Your children pointed out just where the world is full of crap As you pass into history we will remember you How you defeated evil but then had to face the truth Everybody everywhere must get a chance to live Let your legacy be that you gave all you could give
