Strange Arithmetic

[Verse 1] History has taught me some strange arithmetic Using swords, prison bars, and pistol grips English is the art of bombing towns While assuring that you really only blessed the ground Science is that honorable, useful study Where you contort the molecules and then you make that money In mathematics, dead children don’t get added But they count the cost of bullets comin out the automatic [Hook] Teacher My hands up Please, don’t make me a victim Teachers Stand up You need to tell us how to flip this system [Verse 2] Economics is the symphony of hunger and theft Mortar shells often echo out the cashing of checks In Geography class, it’s borders, mountains and rivers But they will never show the line between the takers and givers Algebra is that unique occasion In which a school can say that there should be a balanced equation And then Statistics is the tool of the complicit To say everybody’s with it and that you’re the only critic [Hook] [Verse 3] Social Studies, the goliath to tackle Which turns into a sermon on simplicity of shackles Physics is to school you on the science of force ‘Cept for how to break the hell out the ghetto, of course Home Ec can teach you how to make a few sauces And accept low pay from your Walmart bosses If your school won’t show you how to fight for what’s needed Then they’re training you to go through life and get cheated [Hook]