Pendulum

[G]I been walking a tightrope between fact and fiction
[Em]I been wrestling with demons in small bottled prisons
[C]I been talking with sinners who claim to be Christian
[D]I been shouting at leaders who claim to be listening

[G]& the pendulum swings from the left to the right
[Em]and momentum increases the need for the fight
[C]Like a moment of blindness in a lifetime of sight
[D]& I am caught somewhere in the [G]middle

[G]I saw a president blind to the needs of his people
[Em]I saw a camel that passed through the eye of a needle
[C]I saw a group of old men whose money was evil
[D]I saw a cross breaking free from the cage of a steeple
[G]I saw beggars and cripples dying in squalor
[Em]I saw a son whose sins had exceeded his father
[C]I saw a nation of sleepers whose dreams were forgotten
[D]& a bushel of apples from a tree that was rotten

[G]& the pendulum swings from the left to the right
[Em]as momentum increases the need for the fight
[C]Like a blindfold when its time to walk towards the light
[D]& I am lost somewhere in the [G]middle

[G]I heard the echo of suffering in the valley of laughter
[Em]I heard the rumble of earthquakes far under the water
[C]heard a court jester whose forked tongue was twisted
[D]Who told us of dangers that never existed
[G]I heard voices that claimed to be moral and righteous
[Em]Whose lies and deceit were all dark and contagious
[C]I heard talk of a country that valued its freedom
[D]But when I protested I was arrested and beaten

[G]& the pendulum swings from the left to the right
[Em]As momentum increases the weight and the height
[C]But if nobody's listening, is anyone right?
[D]& I can't seem to find the key to the [G]riddle

[G]I met a young woman with a baby inside her
[Em]I looked but there wasn't a safe place to hide her
[C]I met an old man with a face like a mirror
[D]He showed me his sadness so I could see clearer

[G]I met an arrogant leader who robs us and cheats us
[Em]He pretends that his orders come directly from Jesus
[C]When he sends out our children to strange foreign soil
[D]To kill for the right to monopolize oil

[G]I'm a raising my voice 'gainst the house of derision
[Em]That murders our freedom with short-sighted vision
[C]I'll sing a new song about civilization
[D]& the palace of wisdom and the death of a nation

[G]I'll lift up the veil that's hiding the holy
[Em]& remind all the people that change happens slowly
[C]I'll scream out a name to the echoes of Heaven
[D]& pray that the world don't end up where its heading

[G]& the pendulum swings from the left to the right
[Em]as momentum decreases the end is in sight
[C]There's a lunatic handling our future tonight
[D]& I am lost somewhere in the [G]middle