[Intro]

I remember getting intimidated and busted at age thirteen by the police

I remember my friend Tate Bryant

Shot in the back in Tampa, Florida for his first-offense burglary

I remember the police firing into crowds and killing children

'Cause they were the wrong color

I remember the narcs in my high school trying to set me up for a big fall

I remember the police bringin' dogs into our school

And sniffing away my rights

The police is the Klan, is the mafia, and they all own the police state

And they're out for me, and soon they're going to be out to get you

So you better get goin' if you know what's good for ya

And take your stand

[Verse 1]

I remember when I first went to school

They said, "Don't be a joker, don't be a fool

Pledge your allegiance to the red, white, and blue

Don't expect your country to do nothin' for you"

They said your forefathers loved you, but I only had one

Watched him die in the heat of the sun

Suckin' on the barrel of a policeman's gun

Nothin' I could do but stay away

[Chorus]

In the U.S.A., you gotta take your chances

If you plan on stayin' free

They say this is the land of the livin'

But they're tryin' to make a dead man out of me

[Verse 2]

I remember when I first hit the road

I was runnin' from the lenders of the money I owed

Came to Austin, heard a knock at my door

Crossed another border and now I'm runnin' some more

They say they're gonna get me but it ain't happened yet

Burnin' my fingers on my last cigarette

It's time to remember, it's time to forget

Nothin' I could do but get away

[Chorus]

To the U.S.A., you gotta take your chances

If you plan on stayin' free

They call this the land of the livin'

But they're tryin' to make a dead man out of me

[Verser 3]

I remember all the stories I heard

How a man's supposed to be about as free as a bird

My brother's in prison, my father's dead

Me, I'm tired of livin' with a price on my head

I wonder if there's a place to be

In the whole wide country for a fella like me

Name's in the paper, face on TV

Nothin' I can do but get away

[Chorus]

In the U.S.A., you gotta take your chances

If you plan on stayin' free

They call this the land of the livin'

But they're tryin' to make a dead man out of me

[Guitar Solo]

[Chorus]

In the U.S.A., you gotta take your chances

If you plan on stayin' free

They call this the land of the livin'

But they're tryin' to make a dead man out of me