Lives in the Balance

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 ear You might ask what it takes to remember When you think that you've heard it before How governments lie to their people And how nations are driven to war There are shadows on the faces Of the men who fan the flame To those wars that are fought in places We can even remember their name On the radio talk shows and TV You hear one thing again and again How the USA stands for freedom And how we come to the aid of a friend Well, who are these ones we call our friend These governments killing their own? Or is it the ones who can't take any more So they pick up a brick or a gun or a stone There are lives in the balance There are people under fire There are children at the cannons And there is blood on the wire There is blood on the wire There is blood on the wire There is ... There's a shadows on the faces Of the men who send the guns To those wars that are fought in places Where their business interest runs I want to know who these men in the shadows are I want to hear somebody asking them why They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are But they're never around to fight or to die There are lives in the balance There are people under fire There are children at the cannons And there is blood on the wire There is blood on the wire There is blood on the wire There is ...