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I've been knockin' on the door that holds a throne
I've been lookin' for the map that leads me home
I've been stumblin' on good hearts turned to stone
Those good intentions have gone dry as bone
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own
From Chicago to New Orleans
From the muscle to the bone
From the shotgun shack to the Superdome
We needed help but the cavalry stayed home,
There ain't no-one hearing the bugle blown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own
Where's the eyes, the eyes with the will to see
Where's the hearts, they run over with mercy
Where's the love that has not forsaken me
Where's the work that set my hands, my soul free
Where's the spirit to reign, reign over me
Where's the promise, from sea to shining sea
Where's the promise, from sea to shining sea
Wherever this flag is flown
Wherever this flag is flown
Wherever this flag is flown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own
I've been lookin' for the map that leads me home
I've been stumblin' on good hearts turned to stone
Those good intentions have gone dry as bone
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own
From Chicago to New Orleans
From the muscle to the bone
From the shotgun shack to the Superdome
We needed help but the cavalry stayed home,
There ain't no-one hearing the bugle blown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own
Where's the eyes, the eyes with the will to see
Where's the hearts, they run over with mercy
Where's the love that has not forsaken me
Where's the work that set my hands, my soul free
Where's the spirit to reign, reign over me
Where's the promise, from sea to shining sea
Where's the promise, from sea to shining sea
Wherever this flag is flown
Wherever this flag is flown
Wherever this flag is flown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own
Lyrics submitted by Danche
Track duration: 03:54
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In regards to this song...I think it's a commentary on the general greed and selfishness that have taken over this country. It's both an indictment...but also maybe a plea for us to find ourselves as neighbors, friends, brothers and sisters so maybe we will someday take care of our own!
As for Katrina--yea it got botched pretty bad. But the LA governor and NOLA mayor were offered aid ahead of time and said told no thanks, we got this. It's not all that hard to find this information. When the cavalry is told to stay home--who do you blame? The other party--naturally. More job loses and tons of poverty were caused by the inept handling of the oil spill and the order to lay off all the oil workers. Write a song about that.
Unlike "Born in the USA", I can't quite seem to comprehend who Bruce is aiming his arrow at. The brilliance of "Born" was that it followed a single character who ended up going off to "fight the yellow man", had his brother killed, and found himself "ten years down the road", with no opportunity.
I would tend to suspect that it's our ruling class - the lyrical reference to the Superdome, and that the cavalry wasn't coming. We can bomb a country on the other side of the planet in hours, but we can't send our military in to rescue our own drowning people? Are we really taking care of our own?
However, some small part of me believes this is an indictment of the average American's selfish attitude these days. Sure, if your neighbor's house burns down, you'll see the whole community respond and come to their aid. But politicians get applauded for telling the unemployed to "just get a job", they get applauded for saying we should just deport illegals, they get applauded for promoting endless war around the world.
I know that may just be a small nutty contingent of our population, but the brazen, heartless things coming out of some of our leaders' mouths gives me pause. They wouldn't be saying those things if it didn't get them votes and attention. Maybe the "hearts that have turned to stone" Bruce is referring to includes us, the people, as well as our politicans - I sure hope not. But I have to admit it could be true.
'I been knocking on the door that holds the throne'
= questioning those in power
'stumbling on good hearts turned to stone'
= politicians who came to do good and stayed to do well
'we take care of our own'
= the government doesn't take care of us, so we've got to do it ourselves. 'our own' probably refers to Americans.
'wherever this flag's flown'
= this could mean any number of things, but given the USA's status as the 'international police', they make their presence felt in a LOT of places around the world, i.e. fly their flag.
'where...
where...
where...'
= these are all typical questions that voters ask of their politicians. the line 'where's the work that'll set my hands, my soul free' is particularly interesting, because it has its origins in Nazi concentration camps. the Nazis placed 'arbeit macht frei' on a sign above the entrance to their Auschwitz concentration camp, which is translated as 'work sets you free'. basically Bruce is drawing a parallel between the govt. and Nazis.