Letras
The global balance of terror
Pioneered by the United States and the Soviet Union
Holds hostage all the citizens of the earth
Each side persistently proves the limits of the other's tolerance
Like the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The testing of anti-satellite weapons
The Vietnam and Afghanistan wars
The hostile military establishments are locked in some
Gasping mutual embrace
Each needs the other
But the balance of terror is a delicate balance
Very little margin for miscalculation
And the world impoverishes itself by spending
A trillion dollars a year on preparations for war
And by employing perhaps
Half the scientists and high-technologists on the planet
In military endeavors
How would we explain all this to a dispassionate
Extraterrestrial observer?
(Extraterrestrial observer)
(Extraterrestrial observer)
(Extraterrestrial observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
(Observer)
What account would we give of our stooge of a Planet Earth?
We have heard the rationales offered by the superpowers
We know who speaks for the nations
But who speaks for the species?
Who speaks for Earth?
(Who speaks for Earth?)
(Who speaks for Earth?)
(Who speaks for Earth?)
(Who speaks for Earth?)
(Who speaks for Earth?)
From an extraterrestrial perspective
Our global civilization's clearly an edge failure
In the most important task it faces
Preserving the lives and well-being of its citizens
And the future habitability of the planet
(The planet)
(The planet)
(The planet)
(The planet)