Waltz For Evita And Che

Tell me before I waltz out of your life
Before turning my back on the past
Forgive my impertinent behaviour
But how long do you think this pantomime can last?

Tell me before I ride off in the sunset
There's one thing I never got clear
How can you claim you're our saviour
When those who oppose you
Are stepped on or cut up or simply disappear?

Tell me before you get onto your bus
Before joining the forgotten brigade
How can one person like me, say
Alter the time-honored way the game is played?

Tell me before you get onto your high horse
Just what you expect me to do
I don't care what the bourgeoisie say
I'm not in business for them but to give all my descamisados
A magical moment or two.

There is evil
Ever around,fundamental
System of government quite incidental
So why go bananas
Chasing Nirvanas
And failing?
Better to do
What you can for a few
Than to lie – much
Plainer sailing.

Tell me before I seek worthier pastures
And thereby restore self-esteem
How can you be so short-sighted
To look never further than this week or next week
To have no impossible dream?

Allow me before you slink off to the sidelines
To mark your adieu with three cheers
And to ask you just who'd be delighted
To know that I'll tackle
The world's greatest problems
Say war to pollution
No hope of solution
Even if I live for one hundred years?

There is evil
Ever around fundamental
System of government quite incidental
So go if you're able
To somewhere unstable
And stay there
Whip up your hate
In some tottering state
But not here dear
Is that clear, dear?

Oh what I'd give for a hundred years!
But the physical interferes
Every day more – oh my Creator!
What is the good of the strongest heart
In a body that's falling apart?
A serious flaw
I hope You know that.

I always thought my country right or wrong
I used to say here's where I belong
But that's a joke
I might as well have been
As loyal to
El Salvador, Afghanistan, the South of France, Japan, Hong Kong!
Oh my insecticide!