Well, you can’t stop
on the side of the highway no more
to see if someone
needs help

You can’t pick
a hitchhiker up
He might
She might have a gun

How could you send your kid
to an American school now?
I could not send my kid
to an American school

Well I can almost see you
having a gun
if you lived out, way out
on the open range

If there was no one, no one
within 30 miles of you
Mostly we live next to
and right on top of each other

Well back in 1933
Einstein left Germany
He knew what he was feeling
And he wasn’t feeling safe

I wonder if he felt like his number
could come up any time
I wonder if he felt entered
in some dark lottery

It’s no wonder
we need so many drugs
The mall on the edge of town
has turned into Beirut

I do not like
anyone walking behind me
And I do not want to get stopped
by the cops for anything

I’m talking disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament

Talking disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament

See, I do not want my politicians in my bed or in my house or house of God
I don’t care what they believe
Or what they look like or who their daddy is
And I do not care who a senator sucks or a president fucks at all

How many ads they got on TV
What they did or did not do in the war
See I’d rather kill the guns
Then have to kill off my emotions

I’m scared to speak my mind
Or disagree
Or even move
I might get noticed

Man, it’s just no fun anymore
The golden rule has changed
Fire unto others
before they fire unto you

I don’t need no more erection pills
I don’t need a million baldness cures
Hell, these days to die in a car crash
Is practically dignified

What’s the point of going to the health club
building your body, pumping them weights?
If a five-year-old can walk up
and blow you away

Hey governor
Whatchyou doing about the guns?
Hey candidate
Whatchyou gonna do about the guns?

I don’t really want to die
‘cuz someone’s pissed off at his girlfriend
I don’t want my kid to die
‘cuz someone didn’t make the football team

I don’t care what John Rocker says
The first amendment’s good by me
But the second one’s outdated
It’s ashes ought to be burned and scattered

We’re talking disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament

Talking disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament

I write this from some highway rest stop
Now I’m gonna go sleep in my van
In America these days
That makes me practically a hero

I don’t care what the top ten movies are
I don’t care who just won a million dollars
I don’t care what you think of abortion
Though I think it’s probably better to eat the egg than kill the chicken

Hey senator
Whatchyou gonna do about the guns?
Hey Mrs. President
Whatchyou gonna do about the guns?

Hey Batman
Whatchyou gonna do about the guns?
Hey Superman
Whatchyou gonna do about the guns?

Hey Lone Ranger
You ain’t alone anymore
Too many other rangers
Time to turn in your gun

Hey policeman
Time to turn in your gun
Hey everybody
Time to turn in your gun

England isn’t coming
We ain’t holding off the Huns
If you want to hunt the elk
Check out a gun like you check out your bowling shoes

See, I’ve heard all the arguments
“We need the guns against the government”
But the last time that I checked
The government’s supposed to be us

And if that isn’t true
Let’s have a revolution right now
But if the government is us
Let’s get rid of all the guns

People say it could never happen
Well, that’s what they said about Jim Crow
The day he became president
John F. Kennedy said “Let us begin”

We need disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament

Talking disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament

I used to live next to a nursery school
Those kids screamed all day, every day
I often dreamed about killing them
I’m glad I didn’t have a gun

(lyrics: Dan Bern)