Bruce Cockburn
Planet of the Clowns
[Verse 1]
Stare into the moonlight
Silver fingers press my eyes
Probing in my heart with longing

[Verse 2]
These footprints by the sea's edge
Disappearing grain by grain
Lose their form but keep their substance

[Chorus]
As the waves roar on the beach like a squadron of F-16's
Ebb and flow like the better days they say this world has seen

[Verse 3]
Government by outrage
Hunger camps and shanty towns
Dignity and love still holding

[Verse 4]
This blue-green ball in black space
Filled with beauty even now
Battered and abused and lovely

[Chorus]
And the waves roar on the beach like a squadron of F-16's
Ebb and flow like the better days they say this world has seen
[Verse 5]
Each one in our own heart
Desperate to know where we stand
Planet of the clowns in wet shoes