Lyric Thursday: Waves of Grain

I must be feeling more cynical than usual about truth, justice, and the American way after the Lewis Libby trial and the Walter Reed hospital scandals of the last week or two, because these are the lyrics that have been captivating me lately. Interestingly, I couldn't find these lyrics anywhere on the 'Net; I had to transcribe them myself. The song comes from Timbuk 3's Edge of Allegiance, released in 1989. I highly recomend both the song and the album. (I'm just listening to another song from it, Standard White Jesus, which includes the line, "Everyone wants to be on a postage stamp, but nobody wants to die." Freakin' awesome stuff!)

Waves of Grain
by Pat and Barbara K. MacDonald (Timbuk 3)

It was a nice clean assassination
The gunman slipped through immigration
Like the gentle wind that swept the plain
And ruffled over waves of grain

Sailing safely out of sight
On board the next connecting flight
The gunman smiled he felt no pain
So high above the waves of grain

Then someone snatched the video away
From the hands of a tourist at the gate
And soon a blast on board the plane
Sent it crashing into the waves of grain

A blown-up still told the story
Large as life in all its glory
The man’s face in the 29th frame
Appeared within the waves of grain

Now the pictures have been confiscated
The tourist was incarcerated
The drugs they gave him numbed his brain
Now all he sees are waves of grain

Now rummaging through the ravaged rubble
I wonder is it worth the trouble?
Does the slightest trace of truth remain
Running through the waves of grain?