Dan Bern - Oklahoma lyrics

On the nineteenth day of April In 1995 There was the worst car bombing Near 200 people died In Oklahoma City On Wednesday, 9 o'clock They struck the Federal building Took out near half a block They thought it was an earthquake Made trees and light poles bend And folks thought they were seeing The world come to an end They blew the building open It lay there like a wound Twisted pipes and wires And silent like a tomb Yes, they blew the building open And blew folks' lives apart Firefighters mumbling And wondering where to start They rushed out some survivors But soon could only cry And place the dead in caskets And ask the dear Lord, "Why?" Prayers for the missing For daughters and for sons Prayers for the souls of those Who'd never hurt a one Kevin Small was lucky His clock needed repair He overslept an hour His three year old son was spared But for too many others The news was not so bright One baby got her picture in the paper Then she died The President, he promised They'd pay dearly for the blast And all across the country Flags were flying at half mast Shock soon turned to anger "Who would do this?" people said And anyone suspicious Had a price upon their head They thought it was some Arabs And folks began to scream, First tighten up the borders Then hang ‘em from a tree This proves what we been saying 'Bout our fair and gentle land Nobody who did this Could be an American The FBI got busy Some drawings and some names And everyone was looking for Someone else to blame Some fifty hours later Early Friday day They found the man they wanted In jail, ten miles away A so-called right extremist A patriot government foe An expert on explosives And white as driven snow When people heard the news They found it hard to understand How could such a murderer Come from our own land? But when we build walls and borders From fear and hate and guns The hatred turns around and Strikes at everyone Maybe now we'll understand Maybe now we'll see Super patriots are seldom Friends of you and me They're scared and weak and cowards And they think that with their guns The ones they're most afraid of Will turn around and run But when we stand strong together And let love enjoy its will Misfortune can't defeat us It makes us stronger still Like on the nineteenth day of April In 1995 A day all Oklahomans will Remember all their lives