The Price We Paid Traveling through Texas Seventy-five miles from the border Came to a stop—Heard "Get yer papers... In order!" "Are you an American citizen?" "What's yer business down here?" "Where ya goin'?" "Where ya been?" "What's the name... Of yer friend?" He looked around And searched my car I thought to myself This has gone too far I imagined his badge A swastika... What's a checkpoint doing On American soil? What people do you serve? To what nation... Are you loyal? "We're done here now" "Be on your way" "For keepin' ya safe" "...A price ya pay" Stopped in New York City A victim of 'Stop 'n' Frisk' "Hold it right there" "You look... Suspicious" I was walking through the park Took one fucking picture "Watch yer mouth, muthafucka... Or leave on a stretcher" "Hands on the wall... Spread yer legs" "If ya move a goddamn muscle" "I'll break yer fuckin' eggs" Uh-uh No! Not in America Who's your boss? What's your name? What's your badge... number? He grabbed me by the arm 'N' threw me to the ground "Had enough?" "Are ya done?" "Don't make another sound" "We're done here now" "We'll be on our way" "For keepin' ya safe" "...A price ya pay" Arrived back home Targeted... a 'Sneak 'n' Peek' Because my only crime... I'm a member... Of Greenpeace If you're an activist You best watch out You'll make their list No defense No 4th Amendment This is why the feds Deserve resentment No more guards... Unreasonable searches and seizures Don't ask Supreme Court Judges They're just sitting on their keisters So say goodbye to privacy Hello to new procedures How can this be? This doesn't make us safer They took the Bill of Rights Wipe-wipe... Used as toilet paper "We're done here now" "We'll be back someday" "For keepin' ya safe" "...A price ya pay" From surveillance cameras Up and down our streets To warrantless wiretaps You'd better be discreet Pulled over for speeding They routinely search cellphones Is this what they mean By terrorism... Homegrown? They can look through walls They can see inside our homes With Synthetic Aperture Radar Used in spy drones Got a problem? Look around you Find any... 'Free Speech Zones'? Then there's the NDAA And USA PATRIOT Act Suspend Habeas Corpus Really? That's a scary fact O say can you see What seems quite clear to me One thing is for certain What was once the 'Land of the Free' Now resembles the 'Iron Curtain' After 9/11 We were told... For the record "They hate us for our freedom" What? Wait just one second Someone tell our elected officials Oh... Wait... All superficial They're... Oath...Was artificial If freedom... Can be sacrificial Or Maybe they're just dumb Because... When you strip civil liberties... The enemy has won I'm done here now I'll be on my way For keeping us "safe" Look at the price we paid