And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
that the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
a home and a country should leave us no more!
Dread silence reposes what the battle was for,
but dawn’s early light undoes the illusion–
a blood-spattered flag, an uncivil war.
The free and the brave safeguard their shore
from the tired and hungry who ask for inclusion–
a home and a country should leave us no more!
Still, we fight to protect our American lore
against those who notice its long desolation–
a blood-spattered flag, an uncivil war–
and our own huddled masses, our own aching poor,
are left on the street like human pollution–
a home and a country should leave us no more!
This land is damaged, right down to the corps
of freemen who stand and salute our delusion,
our blood-spattered flag, our uncivil wars–
a home and a country should leave us no more!