Jackson's Prayer: "Wake Her Up This Time"

Deep political consciousness.  Lots of angst.  Delivered in that unmistakeably rich voice, Jackson Browne's message resonates deeply for those that hear it.

This Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone.  Easy to see why.  One of his best ones was the 1986 masterpiece "Lives In the Balance," which tore to shreds the Big Lie that was Reaganism, exposing the suffering the Ray-Gun's military aggression was inflicting on Central America.

And, yet, here we are once again.  

Message lost, lesson still unlearned.  Twenty-five years later it's more of the same, the trademark grand deception that keeps our country embroiled in never-ending foreign aggression. 

It's for this reason that Browne is truly one of the greatest patriots, a real one, who gives enough of a damn about our troubled condition to put the spot light on the hypocrisy and dishonesty that has caused so much pain to us, and "them."

"For America" (lyrics below) is one of the most powerful ballads he's ever done.  Reveals such a deep love for his country that he goes all-out to ring the alarm, again and again, to get U.S. to snap out of it.  Of course this was written a generation ago and they're still not listening in Washington.

Is it too late already to find her conscience? 

"As if I really didn't understand
That I was just another part of their plan
I went off looking for the promise
Believing in the Motherland 

And from the comfort of a dreamer's bed
And the safety of my own head
I went out speaking of the future
While other people fought and bled

The kid I was when I first left home
Was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
But the freedom that found wasn't quite as sweet
When the truth was known 

I have prayed for America
I was made for America
It's in my blood and in my bones
By the dawn's early light
By all I know is right
We're going to reap what we have sown

As if freedom was a question of might
As if loyalty was black and white
You hear people say all the time--
"My country wrong or right"

I want to know what that's got to do
With what it takes to find out what's true
With everyone from the President on down
Trying to keep it from you

The thing I wonder about the Dads and Moms
Who send their sons to the Vietnams
Will they really think their way of life
Has been protected as the next war comes?

I have prayed for America
I was made for America
Her shining dream plays in my mind
By the rockets' red glare
A generation's blank stare
We better wake her up this time

The kid I was when I first left home
Was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
But the freedom that he found wasn't quite as sweet
When the truth was known 

I have prayed for America
I was made for America
I can't let go till she comes around
Until the land of the free
Is awake and can see
Until her conscience has been found....."