Oh, where have you been, my modern son ?
And where have you been my digital age one ?
I've bled and I've died on vast swaths of desert
I've been to a place where literacy was accursed
I've dwelled in a place where one book was the government
I've observed the people's will as it shattered a nation
I've watched a grand idea fall prey to corruption...
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Oh, what did you see, my modern son ?
And what did you see, my digital age one ?
I saw red and yellow fall to oligarchic ruin...
I saw a land filled with profit that bankrupted its people
I saw the ruin of a people that created a nation
I saw a river between two nations drowning in bloodshed
I saw bloodshed and ruin that failed to be relevant...
I saw relevance cast asunder because it wasn't really needed...
I saw the seeds of revolution as they declared blue or red...
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

And what did you hear, my modern son ?
And what did you hear, my digital age one ?
I heard the lightning destroying followed bgy the thunder
I heard the illiterate masses speaking with one voice..
I heard their voice and it resounded with hatred...
I heard the roaring of silence bereft of any cannons
I heard the cry for peace through the utter desolation
Heard the speech of a charlatan who denied a mass murder...
Heard the sound of another that was free inside her prison..
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Oh, who did you meet my modern son ?
Who did you meet, my digital age one ?
I met a black man who embraced yet more darkness
I met his supporters now cast by the wayside
I met an idealist who embraced the corruption...
I met a fool who was mindlessly speaking..
I met another who survived by simply not listening
I met yet another who voted for hatred...
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

And what'll you do now, my modern son ?
And what'll you do now my digital age one ?
I'm a-goin' back out though the vitriol is fallin'
I'll walk to the borders of the darkest of countries..
Where the people are many but the silence is larger...
Where the words of poison are flooding the airwaves
Where a damp dirty prison is home to too many
Where the killer at times is never well hidden..
Where humanity is twisted so souls ever hunger...
Where white is despised while others are ascendant
And I'll tweet it and post it and blog it and embrace it...
And reflect it from my Ipad , my Fire and my Surface
Then I'll speak from on high until the voices betray me...
But I'll sharpen my words before I begin singing....
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.