'tis Of Thee Lyrics - Up Up Up Up Up Up - Ani Difranco

They caught the last poor man on a poor man's vacation 

The cuffed him and they confiscated his stuff 

They dragged his black ass down to the station 

And said, okay, the streets are safe now 

All your pretty white children can come out and see spot run 

And they came out of their houses 

And they looked around but they didn't see no one 

My country 'tis of thee 

To take swings at each other on the talk show TV 

Why don't you just go ahead and turn off the sun 

'cause we'll never live long enough 

To undo everything they've done to you 

Undo everything they've done to you 

Above 96th street 

They're handin' out smallpox blankets so people don't freeze. 

The old dogs have got a new trick 

It's called criminalize the symptoms while you spread the disease 

And I hold on hard to something 

Between my teeth when I'm sleeping 

I was up and my jaw aches 

And the earth is full of earthquakes 

My country 'tis of thee 

To take shots at each other on prime time TV 

Why don't you just go ahead and turn off the sun 

'cause we'll never live long enough 

To undo everything they've done to you 

Undo everything they've done to you 

And I'm trying to see through the glare 

Yes, I'm struggling just to see what is there 

The one person who really knows me best, says I'm like a cat 

The kind of cat that you can't pick up and throw into your lap 

No, the kind that doesn't mind being held only when it's her idea 

Yeah, the kind that feels what she decides to feel 

When she's good and ready to feel it 

Now I am prowling through the backyard 

And I am hiding under the car 

I have gotten out of everything, I've gotten into so far 

I eat when I am hungry and I travel alone 

And just outside the glow of the house 

Is where I feel most at home 

But in the window you sometimes appear 

And your music is faint in my ears