A memo to a higher office  Open letter to the powers that be  To a god, a king, a head of state  A captain of industry  To the movers and the shakers...  Can't everybody see?    It ought to be second nature  I mean, the places where we live  Let's talk about this sensibly  We're not insensitive  I know progress has no patience  But something's got to give    I know you're different  You know I'm the same  We're both too busy  To be taking the blame  I'd like some changes  But you don't have the time  We can't go on thinking  It's a victimless crime  No one is blameless  But we're all without shame  We fight the fire while we're feeding the flames    Folks have got to make choices  And choices got to have voices  Folks are basically decent  Conventional wisdom would say  But we read about the exceptions  In the papers every day    It ought to be second nature  At least, that's what I feel  Now I lay me down in Dreamland  I know perfect's not for real  I thought we might get closer  But I'm ready to make a deal    Today is different, and tomorrow the same  It's hard to take the world the way that it came  Too many rapids keep us sweeping along  Too many captains keep on steering us wrong  It's hard to take the heat  It's hard to lay blame  To fight the fire while we're feeding the flames