American Dream

They were wed in spring in front of their families

And nine months later she was pregnant

With a strong baby boy and so they raised him

And this is what they call the American dream

And in the back of all of his button-ups

His mother sewed in a name label

And she sewed in his fate just like a name label

And he wore them both heavy as they bit at the back of his neck

Go to school, get a job, find a wife, settle down

And his father taught him all that a man should know

How to pay the bills put the spin on the winning throw

And the boy showed promise and he made his father proud

But moved like the breeze through a field too tired to give in

Go to school, get a job, find a wife, settle down

I can feel the taunting and teasing

Of my paycheck as it holds me ransom

The monsters we feared when we were children

Are nothing compared to the ones that live under my bed

So he studied hard at Cal State University

And married a girl who was fragrant and flowering

And at night while he sleeps the refrains of his raising

Cut the heads off the dreams of the things he thought could have been

Go to school, get a job, find a wife, settle down