The facts we hate / We’ll never meet / Walking down the road / Everybody yelling / “Hurry up, hurry up!” / But I’m waiting for you / I must go slow / I must not think bad thoughts / When is this world coming to? / Both sides are right / But both sides murder / I give up / Why can’t they?

I must not think bad thoughts…

The civil wars / And the uncivilized wars / Conflagrations leap out of every poor furnace / The food cooks poorly / And everyone goes hungry / From then on / It’s dog eat dog / Dog eat body and body eat dog / I can’t go down there / I can’t understand it / I’m a no-good coward / An American, too / (A North American, that is)

And I must not think bad thoughts (not a South) / And I must not think bad thoughts (or a Central) / And I must not think bad thoughts (or a Native American) / Oh, I must not think bad thoughts / I must not think bad thoughts…

I’m guilty of murder of innocent men, innocent women, innocent children / Thousands of ’em / My planes, my guns, my money, my soldiers / My blood on my hands / It’s all my fault

I must not think bad thoughts…

The facts we hate / You’ll never hear us / “I hear the radio is finally gonna play new music! You know, the British invasion” / But what about the Minutemen / Flesh Eaters, D.O.A. / Big Boys and the Black Flag? / Will the last American band to get played on the radio / Please bring the flag? Please bring the flag! / Glitter disco synthesizer night school / All this noble savage drum drum… / Astronauts go back in time to hang out with the cave people / It’s about time, it’s about space, it’s about some people in the strangest places / Woody Guthrie sang about B-E-E-T-S, not B-E-A-T-S

I must not think bad thoughts…

The facts we hate / We’ll never meet / Walking down the road / Everybody yelling / “Hurry up, hurry up! Hurry up!” / But I’m waiting for you / I must go slow / I must not think bad thoughts / When is this world coming to? / Both sides are right / But both sides murder / I give up / Why can’t they?

I must not think bad thoughts…

[By John Nommensen – Exene Cervenka © Elektra, 1983]