The day that I was born There was still a war Where M-16s and young men's dreams Met on the jungle floor I didn't know it then But people had spoken A million feet on city streets Was the beginning of the end When I was barely four The Nation knew the score Announced on steps to large protests The Government would fall Then in my school days Amid a yo-yo craze A big event a teacher sent To die in outer space Oh my God I can't believe the mess that we've become It echoes like a drum that beats in everyone Oh my God I can't believe the things that we have done It makes me want to run to nineteen seventy one When I was sixteen I saw on my TV A student's stand stop the advance Of a war machine I saw the Berlin Wall As it began to fall And they retired the razor wire To build a shopping mall Oh my God I can't believe the mess that we've become It echoes like a drum that beats in everyone Oh my God I can't believe the things that we have done It makes me want to run to nineteen seventy one I can't believe the new It's too bad to be true Retail gods put us at odds As they tighten the noose Trouble through the years Has finally brought us here Not hesitating we're just waiting For the smoke to clear Oh my God I can't believe the mess that we've become It echoes like a drum that beats in everyone Oh my God I can't believe the things that we have done It makes me want to run to nineteen seventy one