Bought And Sold - Dar Williams

Well we're heading for a past that you leave not defend 
Where the downtowns hold the sadness of you can't go back again 
It's there you'll find the rust and debtors 
Motel signs with missing letters 
Cause there's a monster on the outskirts 
Says it knows what your town needs 
Then it eats it up like nothing and it won't spit out the seeds 
And we can be the super shoppers 
We can say we're really smart 
We can say our town is doing fine without a beating heart 
We can even say the money saved is all our own 
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold 
And we're heading for a nasty business, keeps our country growing 
Where the weapons that we're selling are the only seeds we're sowing 
You get to blow the fruits of all your labors 
Sell F-16's to all the neighbors 
And we know that it's for money 
And that's how the west gets bargained 
You the know the last time this happened 
Even Vietnam got jargoned 
And you can say they're out to hunt you 
You can say they're out to fish you 
You can join a gang of restless boys 
Or start your own militia 
You can even say your violence is all your own 
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold 
Well I look up to the people who are less bought than I 
You can show them what you're selling 
And they'll only ask you why 
And their paychecks don't have lots of zeros 
They're my friends and they're my heroes 
And the TV sets are angry 'cause they just can't make 'em pay 
But I like the way these people read the signs and walk away 
And we can call ourselves the makers 
And the keepers of the times 
We can spend our sand dollars 
And sand nickels and sand dimes 
We can even say prosperity is all our own 
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold 
We can even say our loneliness is all our own 
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold 
It's bought and sold, it's bought and sold</