Piles of bodies on the nightclub floor

The drugs that arrive from a distant shore

Poppies in fields get torched in a war

On everything we ever knew before, ever knew before

Didn't you used to buy this stuff

To feed your youth to keep them dazed?

Even as you talk of a war on drugs

The name on the cheque says CIA, says CIA

Burn the supply and raise the price

On the streets where the votes were disallowed

The voice against war is the voice of the poor

And those that turned their heads around

So when you see us laughing it's a sign of self defense

A mirror for the madness that replaces common sense

Flags get flown on the way back home

From the wars that end when the whistle's blown

Kit supplied from a factory, sewn

For a fraction of the price where the rice gets grown

Patriotic fervour rests

Its legs on desperation's back

When asked to justify itself

It wrapped its silence in a flag

The big man cheers for the price of a beer

The peace distraction brings

Away from the news and the darkened views

As empires spread their wings

So when you see us laughing it's a sign of self defense

A mirror for the madness that replaces common sense

So when you see us laughing it's a sign of self defense