What's that rotten smell?   The stench of morning headlines   Someone's trying to sell a war of ignorance   With newspapers passed out in our schools   And every morning children recite an oath to fools      Oh no, those are words my lips won't make   I couldn't fake blind allegiance   To a dead ideal while kids follow what I say   I should have hit the lights and said "STOP!   Kids you're writing your own pledges now   And if you need ideas I'll tell you when I was your age...      Yes you could see me, dancing in the streets   In front of soldiers, in battle armor, called the state police   I saw my parents standing next to me   And I thought 'This is what it's like to bring your kids up right'   And I looked up and smiled"      Thinking people can't be mind controlled   History knows this   So we'll teach our children to be skeptical of the government   They'll question all the lies they're ever told   They'll be fearless when they stop worshiping the flagpole   And reject what they've been sold      Then you will hear them, dancing in the streets   A sea of children singing so loud the sound is deafening   This war machine will collapse in disbelief   And the hawks will lose their wings and cry   For forgiveness for their crimes   And the kids will nod and smile