21st Century Breakdown

Lyrics

Born into Nixon, I was raised in hell  
A welfare child where the teamsters dwelled  
The last one born and the first one to run,  
My town was blind from refinery sun  
  
My generation is zero  
I never made it as a working class hero  
21st century breakdown  
I once was lost but never was found  
I think I'm losing what's left of my mind  
To the 20th century deadline  
  
I was made of poison and blood  
Condemnation is what I understood  
Video games of the Tower's fall  
Homeland security could kill us all  
  
My generation is zero  
I never made it as a working class hero  
21st century breakdown  
I once was lost but never was found  
I think I'm losing what's left of my mind  
To the 20th century deadline  
  
We are the class of the class of thirteen  
Born in the era of humility  
We are the desperate in the decline  
Raised by the bastards of 1969  
  
My name is no one, your long lost son  
Born on the fourth of July  
Raised in the era of heroes and cons  
That left me for dead or alive  
  
I am a nation, a worker of pride  
My debt to the status quo  
The scars on my hands there a means to an end  
Is all that I have to show  
  
I swallowed my pride and choked on my faith  
I've given my heart and my soul  
I've broken my fingers and I've lied through my teeth  
The pillar of damage control  
  
I've been to the edge  
And I've thrown the bouquet of flowers left over the grave  
I sat in the waiting room, wasting my time  
And waiting for Judgment Day  
  
I praise liberty  
The freedom to obey  
Is the song that strangles me  
Well don't cross the line  
  
Oh, dream, America, dream  
I can't even sleep  
From the light's early dawn  
Oh, scream, America, scream  
Believe what you see  
From heroes and cons