To the Greatest Generation (From an Aging Baby Boomer)

TO THE GREATEST GENERATION (From an aging baby boomer)

You had World War II and we had Vietnam
You had Reefer Madness while we had Cheech & Chong
You fought for our freedom and we fought to refine it
The stumbling block with freedom is in how you define it

We grew up in comfort as long as we were white
While those with darker skin tone fought for their civil rights
We looked at their struggle and gave them our support
Took it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court

Then we fought each other across our great divide
War and love, hawks and doves, we had to take a side
"Peace is not an option! We need to stop those Reds!
And quit smoking that dope! It's messing with your head!"

"No!" we said, "That's not the way! We need to love each other!
Black and white, yellow and red, it's time we lived as brothers!
Bring the troops back home now! We need to end the war!
Legalize marijuana! Tax the rich and feed the poor!"

58,000 soldiers wound up dying overseas
The war reached its conclusion and both of us were pleased
We left them to fight alone and that did not go well
Reality kicked us in the ass the day that Saigon fell

From Vietnam to Watergate was such a short transition
After all was done and said we kicked out Richard Nixon
His war on drugs continued and took many casualties
Which was felt the harshest among all minorities

The Soviet Union fell and so we lost one enemy
Followed by religious wars against theocracies
America tries to lead the world but it will not be led
While half the country turns to blue the other half stays red

Is this a better world now? Well I find that hard to say
The country's rife with people who want to take it all away
They're all longing for a time when their white privilege ruled
Leaving them too blind to see that they have all been fooled

The chasm between rich and poor has grown enormously
While politicians make it hard to climb from poverty
Racism's less obvious but still alive and well
If you're a minority the cops still give you hell

We're winning the war on drugs, pot's nearly legalized
Sometimes I think we need it just to face the daily lies
We're told that we can't believe the things that we can see
They won't get away with it, on this we must agree

We have gotten old now while you are nearly gone
I write this as a tribute to the struggle you took on
The greatest generation had the greatest generation gap
Your children pointed out just where the world is full of crap

As you pass into history we will remember you
How you defeated evil but then had to face the truth
Everybody everywhere must get a chance to live
Let your legacy be that you gave all you could give