Lives In The Balance (LP Version) Lyrics

I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my earYou might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to warThere's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interests runOn the radio talk shows and TV
You hear one thing again and again
How the USA stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends
These governments killing their own
Or the people who finally can't take anymore
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stoneAnd there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire

There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wireThere's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the namesThey sell us the president the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us everything from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our warsI want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can't be counted on to tell us
Who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to dieAnd there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
Songwriters
JACKSON BROWNEPublished by
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Peermusic Publishing Song Discussions is protected by U.S. Patent 9401941. Other patents pending.