Bought And Sold Lyrics - 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