It's not the end   Forget what I said    That fucking letter says   I'm not going over   I'm not crossing oceans for them      It's not defense    And I wont let the business of making new soldiers    Roll over our making promises   We'll tell them       That I was only joking    When I said all those things    I swore I meant at the time   Either joking or lying      So better the stateside    Than brave the great desert divide   The whole ride over I was growing wings    And better the road stretched ahead    Than the cheap threat of me stretched out dead   What's to think over?   Just grab your fucking things      They'll be no statewide searches    For some AWOL stateside kid like me   I swear it'll just be a few weeks    Of hotel rooms and diner food   Or face the new american exchange    Of one rifle for every wife I'll lose      Listen, I've been thinking    That we'll take all we've got    And I can dodge the draft    And you can quit your job   And we'll make these fuckers catch me if they want me   They'll find me a fighter after all      So better the stateside    Than brave the great desert divide   Sound the sirens for a long drive    Better the days in for weeks    Than the days away in the desert streets   So sound the psalms of retreat