It’s coming through a hole in the air/ from those nights in Tiananmen 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 USA
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 USA
It’s coming from the sorrow in the street/ the holy places where the races meet/ from the homicidal bit chin’/ 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 USA
CHORUS
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, sail on
It’s coming to America first/ the cradle of the best and 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 USA
It’s coming from the women and the men/ O darling, we’ll be making love again/ We’ll be going down so deep/ the river’s going to weep/ and the mountain’s going to shout Amen!/ It’s coming like the tidal flood/ beneath the lunar sway/ imperial, mysterious/ in amorous array/ Democracy is coming to the USA
CHORUS
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 USA