The Long Way Around

[Verse 1] I don't know what to say about these days I'm seeing people changing in the strangest ways Even in the richer neighborhoods People don't know when they got it good They got the envy, and they got it bad [Verse 2] When I was a kid everything I did was trying to be free Running up and down Tinsel Town with the fire inside of me My planets all in retrograde The best of all my plans got laid I made my breaks, and some mistakes Just not the ones people think I made [Chorus] Now I'm a long way gone Down this wild road I'm on It's gonna take me where I'm bound But it's the long way around [Verse 3] It's so hard keeping track of what's gone wrong The covenant unravels, and the news just rolls along I could feel my memory letting go Some two or three disasters ago It's hard to say which did more ill Citizens United or the Gulf oil spill [Chorus] And I'm a long way gone Down this wild road I'm on It's gonna take me take me where I'm bound But it's the long way around [Verse 4] It's never been that hard to buy a gun Now they'll sell a Glock 19 to just about anyone The seeds of tragedy are there In what we feel we have the right to bear To watch our children come to harm There in the safety of our arms With all we disagree about The passions burn, the heart goes out [Chorus] And we're a long way gone Down this wild road we're on It's gonna take us where we're bound It's just the long way around