Today, as you listen to this song
Another 394,000 children were born into this world
They break like waves of hunger and desire upon these eroded shores
Carrying the curses of history and a history yet unwritten
The oil burns in thick black columns, the buzz saws echo through the forest floor
They shout give us our fair share, give us justice
Here comes the war

On a grey morning to the south of here
Two young men in makeshift uniforms peer into the misty light
And figures dart behind the trees
As a snap of rifle rounds echoes out across the fields
They hardly know their sacred mother tongue but they recognize their duty
To defend the flag hanging limp and bloody above the village church
While a thousand miles away, in a warehouse complex down by the river,
Young money men play paintball games
Here comes the war – put out the lights on the Age of Reason

So blow out the candle and tell us another of those great stories,
the ones about serial killers. Let dreams flow into savage times.
Do you hear the sirens scream across the city?
We’ve had three hot nights in succession – the riot season is here again
Dear Lord, lead us back into the Valley of the Shadow of Death,
Here comes the war. Did you think we were born in peaceful times?

Faster, faster, like a whirling dervish spinning round
Faster, faster, until the Centre cannot Hold
You screamed give us Liberty or give us Death
Now you’ve got both, what do you want next ?
Here comes the war – put out the lights on the Age of Reason.