Democracy

It's coming through a hole in the air

From those nights in Tienanmen Square

It's coming from the feel

That this ain't exactly real

Or it's real but it ain't exactly there

From the wars against disorder

From the sirens night and day

From the fires of the homeless

From the ashes of the gay

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A

It's coming through a crack in the wall

On a visionary flood of alcohol

From the staggering account

Of the Sermon on the Mount

Which I don't pretend to understand at all

It's coming from the silence

On the dock of the bay

From the brave, the bold, the battered

Heart of Chevrolet

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A

It's coming from the sorrow in the street

The holy places where the races meet

From the homicidal bitchin'

That goes down in every kitchen

To determine who will serve and who will eat

From the wells of disappointment

Where the women kneel to pray

For the grace of God in the desert here

And the desert far away

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A

Sail on, sail on

O mighty ship of state

To the shores of need

Past the reefs of greed

Through the squalls of hate

Sail on, sail on, sail on

It's coming to America first

The cradle of the best and of the worst

It's here they got the range

And the machinery for change

And it's here they got the spiritual thirst

It's here the family's broken

And it's here the lonely say

That the heart has got to open

In a fundamental way

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A

It's coming from the women and the men

Oh baby, we'll be making love again

We'll be going down so deep

That the river's gonna weep

And the mountain's going to shout, "Amen"

It's coming like the tidal flood

Beneath the lunar sway

Imperial, mysterious

In an amorous array

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A

Sail on, sail on

O mighty ship of state

To the shores of need

Past the reefs of greed

Through the squalls of hate

Sail on, sail on, sail on

I'm sentimental if you know what I mean

I love the country but I can't stand the scene

And I'm neither left or right

I'm just staying home tonight

Getting lost in that hopeless little screen

But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags

That time cannot decay

I'm junk but I'm still holding up

This little wild bouquet

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A

Sail on

Sail on

Sail on