Ooh you're slick
You investors in hate
You Saddams and you Bushes
You Bin Ladens and snakes
You billionaire bullies
You're a globalized curse
You put war on the masses while you clean out the purse

And that's how it's done war after war
You old feudal parasites just sacrifice the poor
You've got the cutting edge weapons
But your scam's still the same as it's been since the Romans
It's the patriot game
It's the war racket

You twisters of language
You creeps of disguise
Your disinformation
Like worms in your eyes
You privileged bankers
You gambler thieves
You profit on war
There's less money in peace

That's how it's done time after time
Country after country, crime after crime
You pretend it's religion and there's no one to blame
For the dead and impoverished in your little patriot game
Honey, that's the war racket

Got the world's greatest power and you team up with thugs
Make a fortune on weapons, destruction and drugs
But your flags and boots and uniforms start to all look the same
When both sides are killing in the patriot game
It's the war racket

And that's how it's done, and you've got our sons
In the cross-hairs of horror at the end of a gun
And your national anthems start to all smell the same
When all sides are dying in the patriot game
It's the war racket

And war is never, ever holy
It's just a greedy men's dream
And you two-faced crusaders
Both sides are obscene
War's not made by God
War's made by men
Who misdirect our attention while you thieves do your thing

And that's how it's done
About every thirty years
The rich fill their coffers
The poor fill with tears
The young fill the coffins
The old hang a wreath
The politicians get photographed with their names underneath

It's the war racket
It's the patriot game
It's the war racket

Copyright: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Writer(s): Buffy Sainte-Marie