I don't know what to say about these days People, they are changing in the strangest ways Even in the richer neighborhoods, People don't know when they've got it good They've got the envy and they've got it bad When I was a kid, everything I did was trying to be free Running up and down Tinsel Town, with the fire inside of me My planets all in retrograde and the best of all my plans got laid I had my breaks, made mistakes But just not the ones people think I made And I'm a long way gone Down this road I'm traveling on It's gonna take me where I'm bound Buts it's the long way around It's so hard keeping track of what's gone wrong The covenant unravels and the news keeps rolling on I can feel my memory letting go Four or five disasters ago It's hard to say what did more ill, Citizens United or the Gulf oil spill And I'm a long way gone Down this road I'm traveling on It's going to take me where I'm bound But it's the long way around It's never been that hard to buy a gun, But now they'll sell a Glock 19 to just about anyone Oh, the seeds of tragedy Are there in what we feel we have the right to bear To watch our children come to harm there in the safety of our arms With all we disagree about, our passions burn, the heart goes out And we're a long way gone Down this road we're traveling on It's gonna take us where we're bound But it's the long way around