"We were terribly wrong"
said Mac the Knife
"I've been exonerated"
Slick Willie proclaimed
only his timing was a little suspicious
could he have read the book in just 45 minutes
after it was published
or was this all part of a grander plan?
oh well, two vacation buddies agreed
and the world beat a path to their door
"We were terribly wrong"
is now the gospel
it don't need discussing any more
but the world didn't notice the little disclaimers
Mac inserted from time to time
"I wasn't in the room
when that was decided
or maybe out of town
it runs together in my mind"
oh, so it was WE who were terribly wrong!
(you have to read between the lines)
let's just accept it
we were terribly wrong
now Mr. President can go on with his life
don't need no one bringin’ up that old strife
so what if a few more Vietnam vets
go off the deep end
just at the time they were starting to mend
we used them once
we can use them again
it don't mean nothin’
‘cause we were terribly wrong

 but…

 could a million boat people
from Vietnam
and two million dead Cambodians
be wrong?

© Gary Lillie - May not be reproduced without the express permission of the author.