AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE

Wheels in my head, spinning round again
never really learned to slow them down
Memories like fleas biting through my sleep
silence cracked by nonexistent sound

Then a bum on Burnside, staggers up to me
he asks me for a cigarette and light
he lost his job on Friday, his wife she left last week
and he doesn't even have a place to sleep

I wonder where we're going
I wonder where we are
I wonder if we'll ever wake up from this dream
then the morning comes, and it's time to run
for the cover of the American dream machine

Students study madly at the college of their choice
hoping they'll soon buy their first Rolls Royce
Caribbean vacations, an oceanic cruise
within the dream there's no way they can lose

Siren flashes by outside, rain pounding on the Earth
feeling it's the time for rebirth
Attitude adjustment, I know just what you mean
When you're living inside the American dream machine

Michael Frazier © June 29, 1986