Democracy

It's comin' through a hole in the air

From those nights in Tiananmen Square

It's comin' from the feel that this ain't exactly real

Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there

From the war against disorder

From the sirens, night and day

From the fires of the homeless

From the ashes of the gay

Democracy is comin' to the U.S.A.

It's comin' through a crack in the wall

On a visionary flood of alcohol

From the staggering account

Of the Sermon on the Mount

Which I don't pretend to understand at all

It's comin' from the silence on the dock of the bay

From the brave, the bold, the battered heart of Chevrolet

Democracy is comin' to the U.S.A.

It's comin' from the sorrow in the street

The holy places where the races meet

From the homicidal bitchin'

That goes down in every kitchen

To determine who will serve and who will eat

From the wells of disappointment where the women kneel to pray

For the grace of God in the desert here and the desert far away

Democracy is comin' to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on

Oh, mighty ship of state

To the shores of need

Past the reefs of greed

Through the squalls of hate

Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on

It's comin' to America first

The cradle of the best and of the worst

It's here they got the range and the machinery for change

And it's here they got the spiritual thirst

It's here the family's broken and it's here the lonely say

That the heart has got to open in a fundamental way

Democracy is comin' to the U.S.A.

It's comin from the women and the men

Oh baby, we'll be makin' love again

We'll be goin' down so deep the river's gonna weep

And the mountains gonna shout "Amen!"

It's comin' like the tidal flood beneath the lunar sway

Imperial, mysterious, in amorous array

Democracy is comin' to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on

Oh, mighty ship of state

To the shores of need

Past the reefs of greed

Through the squalls of hate

Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean

I love the country but I can't stand the scene

And I'm neither left or right, I'm just stayin' home tonight

Gettin' lost in that hopeless little screen

But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags that time can not decay

I'm junk but I'm still holdin' up this little wild bouquet

Democracy is comin' to the U.S.A.

(To the U.S.A.)