Put your fist in the air
Put your pen to the paper
And deliver an oration
And then do it all again
Is this what we’re become
A shrine to repetition
To that glorious tradition
The machinery of men
This passionless display
Of presidential trappings
Does little to convey
Wherein our will to service lies
For who among us would have run
Were it not to curry favor
With the truest of the patriots
Our lovers and our wives
Oh oh oh we demand our steel and roses
And if they do not deliver we shall have to force their hand
You’ve sustained and mystified us
You’ve destroyed us and inspired us
And where we now stand why should you not stand?
Every peace that was won
Each diplomacy completed
Would be lost without the aid
And the resolve that you conferred
Now we serve our countrymen
In perpetual retirement
Oh mechanical first ladies
May our prayers not go unheard
Oh oh oh we demand our steel and roses
And if they do not deliver we shall have to force their hand
You’ve sustained and mystified us
You’ve destroyed us and inspired us
And where we now stand why should you not stand?
Martha Margaret Abigail, Mary Ellen Barbara
Rachel Helen Rosalyn and Dolly Florence Laura
Jacqueline and Julia Elizabeth and Hanna
Mamie Ida Lady Bird and Caroline and Anna
Oh oh oh we demand our steel and roses
And if they do not deliver we shall have to force their hand
You’ve sustained and mystified us
You’ve destroyed us and inspired us
And where we now stand why should you not stand?
Put your fist in the air
Put your pen to the paper
And deliver an oration
And then do it all again