Governments lie

Governments lie
Yeah, governments lie
Governments lie - well, I'm not talking 'bout some of 'em
Governments lie - I mean every single one of them

Governments lie about their need for war
They're doing it now like they did before
War for water, war for soil
War for profits and war for oil
War against Jews and gypsies and "gooks"
War against Indians, nature and nukes
Yes, now they're saying conventional arms
Will keep those A-bombs down on the farm
So give your government, Russian or Yank
Permission to build just one more tank
They're doing it anyway, they've said it before
The path to peace leads straight through war
Yes, fuhrers, commissars, presidents and kings
All of them lie about the same damn things
Like why they're doing the things they do
They're killin' for me and killin' for you
Killin' for peace and killin' for freedom
I say fuck 'em - we don't need them!

'Cause governments kill!
Yeah, governments kill
Governments kill - well I'm not talking only 'bout some of them
Governments kill - I mean every single one of them
Dissenters were killed in Iran by the Shah
But all that's different with the Ayatollah
Well sure he butchers in the name of God
But Sharon does too, it that so odd?
'Cause next to the fatherland, God is the best
Excuse there is for killin' the rest
God, and country, and patriotism
Social-, commun-, and capital-ism
With nation-states and legal borders
And hoards of soldiers awaiting orders
Civilization has tamed the beast
With outposts of progress in West and East
In Falklands, Afghanistan, Kurdistan too
Poland, El Salvador and Timbuktu
With Regan and Begin at Sabra and Shatilla
The state is God and the state is a killer!

Ah, but there's hope yet...

'Cause governments die!
Yeah, governments die!
Governments die - I'm not talking only 'bout some of them
Governments die - I mean every single one of them

Sooner or later they've all got to go
History tells us so
There's not a single one of them can make it for to long
But if they go in dribs and drabs
They'll still give us some nasty scabs
So wouldn't it be a whole lot better
If we got rid of them all together!

Lyrics by Alan Franklin 1984