The song is about the United States' foreign policy and how it differs from the image that

they
try to sell of themselves around the world and to their own citizens. The first verse is representative of
that image, that the U.S. is peaceful by nature and is against hostile action, including occupation, in
general. This is evidenced by the common line for U.S. intervention (e.g. romoting democracy!" and
its fre#uent complaints about the human rights issues in opposing countries, such as $ran, %enezuela,
and &ussia. $n contrast to this image, the U.S. has often supported dictators and gone against
democracy, peace, and human rights, in ways that are detailed in later verses, though they are in no way
e'clusionary, as they mostly focus on the (iddle )ast, while the U.S. has also acted similarly in
)urope, Southeast *sia, +atin *merica, and *frica.
$t has a clean timbre, starting out slowly and increasing in tempo and volume throughout the
piece, becoming progressively more intense, until the last verse is reached, at which point it returns to
its original volume and tempo. The te'ture is homophonic, the instruments are an electric bass, electric
guitar, and drum set, and it's played in the ,ey of ) minor. There is a bridge between each verse that
stays at the same, slow, tempo throughout, before having a rest of - beats and the ne't verse is played.
The second verse is where more detail is given about the U.S.'s actions, specifically the
overthrow of a democratically elected leader. ./01 refers to the coup that overthrew (ohammad
(ossadegh because of 2ritain's disli,e of him. This disli,e stemmed from the fact, as the second line
alludes to, that he was against 2, or as it was ,nown at the time, the *nglo3$ranian 4il 5ompany, and
instead wanted to nationalize $ranian oil. 2ritain pushed the U.S. to intervene by convincing them that
(ossadegh was a communist and desiring to go with &ussia. $n his place, Shah (ohammad &eza
ahlavi was given more power (it was only a constitutional monarchy before" and became a staunch
ally of the 6est, brutally controlling his people with his security force, S*%*7. *s this is an increase
in action, the music appropriately increases in tempo, though it's still at a slow3moderate pace.
*ppro'imately .8 years from then, in ./9:, $srael, intent on e'panding its territories, used the
arming of *rab armies as an e'cuse to start a preventitive war!, widely called a pre3emptive war,
despite ,nowing that )gypt had no intention to attac, from both *merican and $sraeli spy agencies.
$srael, armed heavily by the U.S. and possessing much more advanced military technology than its
*rab neighbors, crushed the opposition and anne'ed the places listed in the 1rd and 8th lines of the
verse; the 6est 2an,, <aza Strip, <olan =eights, the rest of >erusalem, and Sinai. *ccording to
international law, they should not have been able to seize land even if it were a defensive war, but it
wasn't until the 5amp ?avid *ccords of ./:@ that they gave away Sinai (after the Aom 7ippur war"
and they occupied the <aza Strip until -BB0, though they still send military forces there. Throughout
this time they've built settlements on the occupied land and bulldozed many alestinians' houses, with
the U.S. vetoing any Security 5ouncil resolution relating to them since ./:1, further demonstrating the
lac, of desire for peace or freedom in the *merican government. &eflecting the same logic as the
previous verse, the music becomes more intense, as a war, even a short one, has more action and
momentum than a short coup.
This verse represents two large events, the first of which is the $slamic &evolution in $ran. *s a
result of the events in the first verse and the tyranny of the Shah, the people rebelled and &uhollah
7homeini gained power. 7homeini was in opposition to U.S. policy in the (iddle )ast and wished to
push other countries in the region to ally more with $ran under $slamic rule and, armed with U.S.
weapons because of the Shah's alliance, had enough power and influence to be a regional threat.
=owever, as the second line references, the military was being purged of officers loyal to the Shah and
more power was being placed into the hands of the fledgling &evolutionary <uard, so Saddam =ussein,
who was also armed by the U.S., along with other countries, decided to attac,. This is mentioned in the
third and fourth lines, as they also e'pected, correctly, that if they were to start losing, the U.S. would
Cust give them more support, to ma,e sure that $ran wouldn't win the war. This war went on for @ years
and involved brutal military techni#ues, such as the usage of chemical weapons, which $ra# either
bought or was given the ability to ma,e by the U.S., against $ranian and 7urdish civilians, along with
being given U.S. military intelligence on where to stri,e and when, once the $ranians managed to ta,e
the advantage. *s this war lasted for @ years and was much more brutal and violent than the 9 ?ay 6ar,
the music reaches a zenith in tempo and volume, almost frenzied, until it reaches the bridge and slows
down.
The last verse brings the song bac, to the first verse, switching from specifics to generalities,
Cust as the first verse started from a general standpoint, moving into the second verse going into
specifics. The tempo and volume rela' as well, to the same as the first verse, helping to draw the song
to a close. The first line is a reference to the reasoning that the U.S. is Cust trying to spread democracy
to the world, with the second bragging that the U.S. is rich because of its capitalist democratic
tendencies. $t continues with the reasoning that other countries are only poor because they're Cust not
democratic or capitalist enough. The end is that its other countries and their citizens duty to merely
comply with *merican wishes if they wish to prosper, as,ing why they don't Cust do it already.