Hey, Mr. President

The danger in writing a song about "Mr. President" is in how time can change the meaning of the lyrics when administrations change and a sympathetic leader takes over.  I wrote this in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina had exposed the pathetic incompetence of George W. Bush and the deep corruption of his administration.  Since then, I've seen, sadly, that the lyrics can be interpreted from either wing of the political spectrum.  They apply to all presidents.      

Hey Mr. President

Hey Mr. President,
your house is on fire.
Hey Mr. President,
they got you surrounded by razor wire.
You got the hottest seat. 
You got the body guards,
but what I’m looking at, 
I see a house of cards.
So many times you were wrong,
that’s why I don’t believe you.
I don’t believe you. 
You’re a liar.

Hey Mr. President,
Jesus wouldn’t do what you do.
Your war and your deficits,
it’s gonna come back on you.
I hear the things you say.
You’re talkin’ inside out.
You go the other way,
I just tune you out.
It doesn’t matter anymore
because I just don’t believe you.
I don’t believe you. 
You’re a liar.

Where I’m from,
it’s a different place,
where people tell the truth
look you in the face.But your world 
is a vicious race
that rips you off
takes you down
beats you up
throws you on the ground,
then they start kickin’ you around. 

Hey Mr. President,
people dream about you.
When you act like that
and the nightmares come,
how do you sleep, what do you do?
You keep on killing folks to “save humanity,”
a fever in your voice, face of vanity.
The truth can’t touch you man and
that’s why I don’t believe you.
I don’t believe you.
You’re a liar.

Copyright © 2005, 2014 by David Larstein, all rights reserved.

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