A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
Seeing houses used to make me smile.
And I knew if I got a loan
That I could call some house my own
And, maybe, we’d be happy for a while.

But the predatory lies and fees
Left me shaking on my knees
Locked out on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When we first had to sleep outside,
But something touched me deep inside
The day Hank Paulson lied.

So bye-bye, oh America why?
For jobs, health, and education,
All the wells have run dry.
And friends of Henry Paulson, not a tear in their eye
Singin’, "nothing kills as good as a lie.
Now watch this old democracy die."

Now did you write the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008?
And is your soul filled up with hate?
My family has no place to go.
Do you believe in trickle down?
Did the speaker buy you a plastic crown?
Where should my children sleep when there's snow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with cash
I saw lobbyists shoving it up your
As soon as you're done playing the fool
Man, can you try to recall the golden rule?

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With two jobs, a mortgage, and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day Hank Paulson lied.

I started singin’,
bye-bye, oh America why?
For jobs, health, and education,
All the wells have run dry.
And friends of Henry Paulson, not a tear in their eye
Singin’, "nothing kills as good as a lie.
Now watch this old democracy die."

Now for eight years we’ve been on our own
Living in a Bushville, missing our home,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the Congress sang for the beauty queen,
Palin jumped into the scene,
And nobody gave a damn for you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The Alaskan stole his thorny crown.
The Republic was adjourned;
The Kingdom was returned.
And while wars happen with a spark,
There's lighter fluid in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day Hank Paulson lied.

We were singing,
bye-bye, oh America why?
For jobs, health, and education,
All the wells have run dry.
And friends of Henry Paulson, not a tear in their eye
Singin’, "nothing kills as good as a lie.
Now watch this old democracy die."

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
There ain't no bankers in the homeless shelter,
Stock market's high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The Congress tried for a forward pass,
The Constitution on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a fascist tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the people tried to take the field;
The ninja turtles wouldn't yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day Hank Paulson lied?

We started singing,
bye-bye, oh America why?
For jobs, health, and education,
All the wells have run dry.
And friends of Henry Paulson, not a tear in their eye
Singin’, "nothing kills as good as a lie.
Now watch this old democracy die."

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
Pinnned in by cops from outer space
With tasers, guns, and pepper spray.
So come on: Jack be nimble, Jack be quick!
The blood and smoke have made Jack sick,
Cause fire is Dick Cheney's only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that Fuhrer’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw Cheney laughing with delight
The day Hank Paulson lied.

He was singing,
bye-bye, oh America why?
For jobs, health, and education,
All the wells have run dry.
And friends of Henry Paulson, not a tear in their eye
Singin’, "nothing kills as good as a lie.
Now watch this old democracy die."

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the barren shore
Where I’d heard the truth told years before,
But the man there said the truth just didn't pay.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
Democracy was broken.
And the three men this delighted most:
Dubya, Poppy, and Prescott's ghost,
They drove their limos to the coast
The day Hank Paulson lied.

And they were singing,
bye-bye, oh America why?
For jobs, health, and education,
All the wells have run dry.
And friends of Henry Paulson, not a tear in their eye
Singin’, "nothing kills as good as a lie.
Now watch this old democracy die."

They were singing,
bye-bye, oh America why?
For jobs, health, and education,
All the wells have run dry.
And friends of Henry Paulson, not a tear in their eye
Singin’, "nothing kills as good as a lie.
Now watch this old democracy die."

David Swanson