The Great Men

Are we too far gone from the mother land,
Our mother's milk?
If we reached out could we still feel the guiding hand
Of the great men?
And these men of God
And these men of truth
Have the words that they've written
Been forgotten and abused?

Was it first grade that we sat in class
Like a box of varied chocolates?
Was it first grade that we first heard of the great men?
We pledged our allegiance to the flag
At the start of every day
And we wondered when we grew up
Could we be a great man

Pushing like a junkie or a barker at a fair
Using sugar coated rhetoric, you're so damn debonair
You're a sweet talking smiler, a bonafide beguiler
A player with a strategy, a mover of the mind
You're the connoisseur of conversation
A soapbox serpent speaking with a forked tongue

It was June of '84 when the storm came rolling through
It took our hats and most of what we learned
But I held on fast to all my goals
So the wind wouldn't blow them away
And I wished to be something more...on Graduation Day

With your mannequin smile on fire
Its charm looting pockets for hard earned cash
And you deal out your double standards
To reel in all those pats on the back that you've lived for,
Connived for, hurt for,
And cheated with a stone heart
You're a beggar with a bleeding heart
A bleeding heart, so cold so cold

What makes a man ignore
The causes to his effects
To damn his very soul to get ahead?
It's greed that waves the carrot
That leads to false security
Is our want much greater than our need to give?

To be strong you must first have strength within your heart
To have faith is a thing that can't be bought
To be great is to first serve the one who's served us all
It's much harder to stand than it is to fall
To be a great man