Bastille Day

(album: Common As Light And Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood - 2017)

My sister called, she said, "Mark, where are you?"
I said, "I'm on my way from Milan, Italy to Bologna."
She said, "I'm glad you're not anywhere near Nice, France."
She said, "Ninety-four people just died there in a terrorist attack."
They were out celebrating Bastille Day
Some crazy fuck plowed through them with the truck, throwing hand grenades
People scattered about and some took refuge in the sea
I said, "Don't worry, little sister, everything's okay here with me."
But things aren't okay in this crazy fucking world
No place is safe for mothers or fathers of the boys of the girls
Yeah, things are a mess on this crazy fucking planet
People getting slaughtered left and right, north and south, and east and west, goddammit
Hate is at its peak on this crazy fucking planet
People getting slaughtered like cattle, goddammit
People getting massacred over and over
And it's oppressing our spirit and our faith in humanity
It's impossible not to feel it (feel it, feel it)
Elementary schools, ask Newtown about that
Or Denver, Colorado about that purple-haired fuck who went and saw Batman
Or Paris, France about that Eagles of Death Metal
Actually don't mention that one 'cause for them the dust is still not settled
Virginia Tech kid showing off his AK to subs on the internet
Tomorrow we're gonna be at the Brussels train station
Terrorism doesn't end, does it
Bombs going off at train stations and office buildings and airports
Turn on the news for the latest death toll report

And as we're driving, I look out [?] from the bales of hay
I hate to say it but on that guy who ruined Bastille Day
I hoped the cops put ninety-four bullets in his fucking brains
It pours, it pours, it pours, it pours, it pours
And it pours when it rains
People in France are in debilitating pain today
So send some love and if you don't then hang your fucking head in shame
If you believe in God, say, "My father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name but forgiving those who trespass against us is in-fucking-sane."

Went for a walk around my hotel in Milan
Pink or white oleanders flourishing on the hotel lawn
I saw a lizard on the sidewalk and he scurried away
This tour has been a grind and it was nice to get out and breathe the air today
Now we're in the van and we're going to stop for Italian food
Someone said, "Hey, on the other hand, did you hear the positive news?"
Mick Jagger announced his girlfriend's pregnancy
He's seventy-two, she's a ballerina in her 20s
Hey, I gotta admit I kinda envy that dude
When my grandpa was seventy-two he was being fed baby food with a plastic spoon
His eyes were like a fish that's faded gray and blue
And off his chin, the candy stripers were wiping off his drool

And we're in the van [?]
Our driver Francesco listens to this one to keep himself awake
And as we drive I think about the future of my nieces
I hope the world in her 20s hasn't been blown to fucking pieces
And as we drive and I'm looking at tall, skinny pines
[?] never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever had to actualize
It's my last summer being forty-nine
Considering everything, I gotta say I'm doing fine
Thought I'm gonna sing this song in Bologna tonight
I'm gonna sing it for France and burn a candle for them tonight
And if Rush is out there somewhere on tour today
I hope for France they're playing Caress of Steel's "Bastille Day"
And when they're marching on Bastille Day
For Nice, France that day is never gonna be the same
And when they're marching on Bastille Day
For Nice, France that day is never gonna be the same

While they were marching on Bastille Day
A guillotine had claimed her bloody prayer
While they were marching on Bastille Day
A guillotine had claimed her bloody prayer
While they were marching on Bastille Day
A guillotine had claimed her bloody prayer
While they were marching on Bastille Day