A song that's unusually grounded in reality by my standards!

I think the chorus for this one might have been started as long ago as 2008 under a song called "The Race" (and that chorus was eventually pushed off to the outro, so it's a completely different song from how it started). It wasn't until it came together with the introduction that I realized I'd written I Want Out.

It's probably very easy to tell what this is about - it seems to end on rather a hopeless note, but that's about as optimistic as I can get since moving to America. Despite that it's much happier than my recent music and is probably one of my less serious offerings overall. I would have liked to have said something more profound with the icon, but I couldn't find the image that I remembered and nothing else really came to mind.

The pre-chorus section "It takes so long to teach them what they never want to learn, turn your back on the fire and you'll burn" is more or less a direct quotation from a prominent American politician. I wish I could remember who it was.

Lyrics

The country's broken, and they know just who's to blame

They tell you lies and want a mark next to their name

Trust in your brainless fear and gullibility

To make you see what they tell you to see

The donkey and the elephant

The rose and crayon tree

Choosing which of their lies you will believe

And the race goes on forever

As we try to best ourselves

One side spreads lies and hate and fear

The other wants to save the world

Every time the dance began

A new face took the stage

But the future refused to change

So grab your flag, we'll march together to the square

No need for reason cause we all know why we're here

They'll change their minds about us when they see our words

Who cares what all the others say, we'll scream until we're heard

It takes so long to teach them

What they never want to learn

Turn your back on the fire

And you'll burn

And the race goes on forever

As we try to best ourselves

One side spreads lies and hate and fear

The other wants to save the world

One will stand above the rest

And promise hope and change

But turn out to be just as strange

Sit back with covered ears

You'll make them king of all the world

Turn your back on the fire

And you'll burn

And the race goes on forever

As we try to best ourselves

One side spreads lies and hate and fear

The other wants to save the world

Every time the dance began

A new face took the stage

But the future refused to change

And steadfast we will stand divided

Cause united we would fall

Still we live, side by side

Just as long as we're alive

And the future will never change