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Illegal Smile
by John Prine
When I woke up this morning
Things were looking bad
Seemed like total silence
Was the only friend I had
Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down
And won
And it was 12 o'clock before I realized I was having
No fun
Ahhh, but fortunately
I have the key
To escape reality
And you may see me tonight
With an illegal smile
It don't cost very much
But it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man
I didn't kill anyone
No I'm just trying to have me
Some fun
Last time I checked my bankroll
It was gettin thin
Sometimes it seems like the bottom
Is the only place I've been
I chased a rainbow down a one-way street
Dead end
And all my friends turned out to be insurance
Salesmen
Ahhh, but fortunately
I have the key
To escape reality
And you may see me tonight
With an illegal smile
It don't cost very much
But it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man
I didn't kill anyone
No I'm just trying to have me
Some fun
Well I sat down in my closet
With all my overalls
Trying to get away from
All the ears inside my walls
Dreamed the police heard everything I though
What then
Well I went to court and the judge's name was
Hoffman*
Ahhh, but fortunately
I have the key
To escape reality
And you may see me tonight
With an illegal smile
It don't cost very much
But it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man
I didn't kill anyone
No I'm just trying to have me
Some fun
Well done
Hot dog bun
My sister's a nun
* Julius Hoffman notorious judge of the "Chicago Seven" or "Chicago Eight" so-called conspirators accused of rioting during the 1968 Democratic convention.
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"We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done."
- Robert S. McNamara
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"We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches...
We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles."
- Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message"
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never wrestle with a pig.
you both get dirty;
the pig likes it.
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