I spent 33 years of my life active, Marines
What's that mean? I was high-class muscle man for Wall Street
I helped make Mexico and China safe for American oil companies
Helped the bankers strike it rich in Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti
At the time I never had a though of my own, like all members of the military
Til I left the service, then it was pretty clear to see
That I was a gangster for capitalism, three continents I controlled
A global racketeer, eat your heart out, Al Capone
Yeah eat your heart out, Al Capone
When the dollar gets restless
It goes on the attack
And the flag follows the dollar
And the soldiers follow the flag
World War One produced 21,000 millionaires
Munitions makers, Bankers and Speculators, not soldiers
It cost the public shattered minds, broken hearts, depression and graves
And back-breaking taxation for generations
How many of these new millionaires slung a rifle on their back
Or went hungry in a fox-hole fighting off the rats
How many spent sleepless nights ducking bullets and shrapnel
How many of them were wounded? How many of them were killed?
How many of them were killed?
They were taken from the classrooms and the factories and the fields
Used for a few years and trained in "kill or be killed"
Through mass psycology they were entirely changed
When they got back they got discharged and scattered without no speeches or parades
Now no one mentioned to these boys as they marched away
That they might be shot with bullets manufactured here in the U.S.A.
Or hit by torpedoes fired from submarines with U.S. patented designs
Cuz Uncle Sam's racketeers were working both sides
Yeah they were working both sides, profit!
Truth compels such responses from a military man,
Cuz I moved my way up through the chain of command
From Second Lieutenant up to 2 stars
I fought in the Boxer Rebellion and the Spanish-American and First World Wars
And I wouldn't go to war again to protest some lousy banker's investment
Cuz war's a racket, and it's always been a racket
Now I believe in nothing but adequate defense along the coast
There's only two things we should fight for and that's our rights and our homes
To hell with war!
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