I remember getting intimidated and busted at age 13 by the police
I remember my friend Tate Bryant getting shot in the back in Tampa, Florida for his first-offense burglary
I remember the police firing into crowds and killing children 'cause they were the wrong color
I remember the narcs in my high school trying to set me up for a big fall
I remember the police bringing dogs into our school and sniffing away my rights
The police is the Klan is the mafia and they all own the police state
And they're out for me, and soon they're going to be out to get you
So you better get going if you know what's good for ya and take your stand

I remember when I first went to school
They said, "Don't be a joker, don't be a fool
Pledge your allegiance to the red, white, and blue
Don't expect your country to do nothin' for you"
They said your forefathers loved you, but I only had one
Watched him die in the heat of the sun
Suckin' on the barrel of a policeman's gun
Nothin' I could do but stay away

In the U.S.A., you gotta take your chances
If you plan on stayin' free
They say this is the land of the living
But they're trying to make a dead man out of me

I remember when I first hit the road
I was runnin' from the lenders of the money I owed
Came to Austin, heard a knock at my door
Crossed another border and I'm runnin' some more
They say they're gonna get me but it ain't happened yet
Burnin' my fingers on my last cigarette
It's time to remember, it's time to forget
Nothin' I could do but get away
In the U.S.A., you gotta take your chances
If you plan on stayin' free
They call this the land of the living
But they're trying to make a dead man out of me

I remember all the stories I heard
How a man's supposed to be about as free as a bird
My brother's in prison, my father's dead
Me, I'm tired of living with a price on my head
I wonder if there's a place to be
In the whole wide country for a fella like me
Name's in the paper, face on T.V
Nothin' I can do but get away

In the U.S.A., you gotta take your chances
If you plan on stayin' free
They call this the land of the living
But they're trying to make a dead man out of me

In the U.S.A., you gotta take your chances
If you plan on stayin' free
They call this the land of the living
But they're trying to make a dead man out of me