《單曲》Iris DeMent - Wasteland of the Free

And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free...

　　五一勞動節，分享 1996 年美國鄉村民謠創作女歌手 Iris DeMent 第三張專輯《The Way I Should》中一首充滿勇氣與人性的抗議歌曲「Wasteland of the Free」。歌詞譴責宗教和政治的虛偽與腐敗、政府和企業對於勞工薪資的蠻橫無理、日漸擴大的貧富差距以及數以萬計禁錮於失業和貧困的美國青年等議題。什麼才是真正的民主藍圖？當我們對自己的成就洋洋得意時，卻不知道正義已漸漸地沉落海底；身處於文明進步的國家中，卻感覺像是活在自由荒地，真是諷刺！

Lyrics 歌詞：(by 好青年 整理)

Living in the wasteland of the free

We got preachers dealing in politics and diamond mines

And their speech is growing increasingly unkind

They say they are Christ's disciples

But they don't look like Jesus to me

And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got politicians running races on corporate cash

Now don't tell me they don't turn around and kiss them peoples' ass

You may call me old-fashioned

But that don't fit my picture of a true democracy

And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got CEO's making two hundred times the workers' pay

But they'll fight like hell against raising the minimum wage

And if you don't like it, mister, they'll ship your job

To some third-world country 'cross the sea

And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free

Where the poor have now become the enemy

Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones

Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy

Living in the wasteland of the free

We got little kids with guns fighting inner city wars

So what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors

And we call ourselves the advanced civilization

That sounds like crap to me

And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We got high-school kids running 'round in Calvin Klein and Guess

Who cannot pass a sixth-grade reading test

But if you ask them, they can tell you

The name of every crotch on MTV

And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

We kill for oil, then we throw a party when we win

Some guy refuses to fight, and we call that the sin

But he's standing up for what he believes in

And that seems pretty damned American to me

And it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free

Where the poor have now become the enemy

Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones

Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy

Living in the wasteland of the free

While we sit gloating in our greatness

Justice is sinking to the bottom of the sea

Living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free

Living in the wasteland of the free