I remember when I first went to school

They said, Don't be a joker, don't be a fool

Pledge your allegiance to the red, white and blue

Don't expect your country to do nothin' for you

They said your forefathers loved you

but I only had one

And I watched him die in the heat of the sun

Suckin' up the bullets of a policeman's gun

There was nothin' I could do but stay away



In the U.S.A. you gotta take your chances

If you plan on stayin' free

They call this the land of the living

But they're trying to make a dead man out of me



I remember when I first hit the road

I was runnin' from the lenders of the money I owed

Came to Austin, heard a knock at my door