Phil Ochs Follow

In a building of gold, with riches untold,
lived the families on which the country was founded.
And the merchants of style, with their made velvet smiles,
were there, for they also were hounded.
And the soft middle class crowded in to the last,
for the building was fully surrounded.
And the noise outside was the ringing of revolution.

Sadly they stared and sank in their chairs and searched for a comforting notion.
And the rich silver walls looked ready to fall
As they shook in doubtful devotion.
The ice cubes would clink as they freshened their drinks,
wet their minds in bitter emotion.
And they talked about the ringing of revolution.

The clouds filled the room in darkening doom
as the crooked smoke rings were rising.
How long will it take, how will we escape
Someone asks, but no one's advising.
And the quivering floor responds to a roar,
In a shake no longer surprising.
As closer and closer comes the ringing of revolution.

In tattered tuxedos they greet the new heroes
And crawled about in confusion.
And they sheepishly grinned for their memoroes were dim of the decades of dark execution.
Hollow hands were raised; they stood there amazed
in the shattering of their illusions.
And the windows were smashed by the ringing of revolution.

Down on our knees we're begging you please,
We're sorry for the way you were driven.
There's no need to taunt just take what you want,
and we'll make amends, if we're living.
But away from the grounds the flames told the town
that only the dead are forgiven.
As they vanished inside the ringing of revolution.