Snake Oil Jubilee

Step right up Shake my hand Everybody’s honest Till there’s land Ta ta ta ticker tape Gold tooth grin and rattlesnake American hustle Coffee black Riverboat preacher in a white linen suit Selling heaven by the bottle for a dollar and a tooth Patent cure bubbling bright carnival blue “Guaranteed to fix what civilization do” Railroad baron iron cane Pocket watch running through another man’s pain Smile sharp enough to cut railroad ties Stars in his vest and smoke in his eyes Ponzi counting paper rain “Everybody rich if the music sustain” Bank collapse Sunday shoes Whole damn choir singing financial blues Snake oil jubilee Everybody selling destiny Silver tongue velvet thief American grief in a three-piece suite They wave the flag They kiss the ring They promise God Then steal the springs Long con symphony Red white blue trickery Everybody wants a king Till the king take everything Dust Bowl banker with a foreclosure smile Family on the porch hadn’t eaten in a while Cadillac humming like a guilty hymn Chrome so bright make the sunset dim Hollywood prophet televangelist tan Private jet baptized in donation plans Crocodile tears in 4K light Begging for your rent money Saturday night Mob boys shuffle through Chicago rain Tommy gun choir and a champagne stain Union boss with a diamond pinky Handshake smellin vaguely whiskey Who’s counting? Who’s clean? Who built the courthouse On kerosene? Who sold freedom By the pound? Who paved paradise Then bought the town? Dot-com prince in a hoodie crown Selling empty clouds to a burning town Crypto messiah livestream face Digital gold rush outer space Influencer preacher ring-light saint Sponsored apocalypse fresh coat paint Algorithm cowboy dopamine grin Every swipe saying “buy again” Lobby ghost in a navy tie Writing little laws where the cameras die Smells like cedar, debt and gin History checking in again Snake oil jubilee Whole damn nation on a marquee Everybody selling cure-all dreams Nothing quite as it seems Red white blue Black market gold Every generation Gets bought and sold Still we dance Still we sing Still kiss the hand Still crown the king Snake oil jubilee