Jim Carroll - Barricades lyrics

We should have left at once We should have never stayed Now they have drawn the line Now there is a barricade Now there's a barricade A barricade Who makes promises? Who makes promises through a thick lead door? Through an intercom on the 23rd floor? Who makes promises and then promises more? Who makes promises for El Salvador? Bobby's getting called. Billy's getting called Juan's getting called, John's getting called . . . They get a letter in the mail, they get a telephone call It says, "Come on, Come on . . ." It says, "Come on . . ." All the American boys Asleep beneath American shade Awake on foreign soil They awake inside the barricades Inside the barricades The sun curves over the jungle And trees grow from the dead nun's lungs But when the ship is in the harbor Then the cyanide pill's on their tongue Inside the Barricade, inside the barricade Girls, no more going out dancing And boys, there's no more getting laid You're gonna parachute to the holy land And you will drop into the barricades Inside the barricades, inside the barricades Who makes promises for the Neutron bomb? It will sign your lungs to d**h And leave the corporate walls unharmed . . . Who makes promises with such insidious charm? But it would have made things cleaner In old Vietnam . . . That's when Kevin got called up Ritchie got called . . . And Kevin never came back Ritchie never came home Their folks got a letter in the mail They got a letter in the mail I ain't gonna die for Standard Oil I.B.M. . . . I wouldn't die for them! G.E.? Not me! "Come on," they say, "Come on" They say "Come on," And you say, "ahh" . . . You just say "Later!"