The Ballad of a Hot June

The western sun, a heavy eye Bakes the dust beneath the sky In Phoenix town and Vegas bright The mercury burns with all its might A fever breaks across the land A warning written in the sand While down along that very line A president draws a brand new sign He says the door is closing now Beneath a worried, heavy brow Two thousand five hundred souls a day Is the number that will turn the rest away Seeking asylum, a hopeful plea

Meets a wall of fresh authority From right and left, the voices cry As weary travelers are passed by Oh, the winds of June, they howl and moan 'Bout the seeds of trouble that are sown A king in court, a son on trial Same old story, different style The wheel of fortune, it spins and spins And nobody knows who really wins Just another chapter, worn and grand In the changing story of this land In a New York room, the air was tense Beyond all claims of innocence

A jury of twelve, their duty done Beneath the legislative sun Thirty-four times, the foreman read The heavy words that filled his head A former president, first of his name To bear the felony, and the shame Sentencing's set for a day in July While the whole wide world is watching by Oh, the winds of June, they howl and moan 'Bout the seeds of trouble that are sown A king in court, a son on trial Same old story, different style The wheel of fortune, it spins and spins

And nobody knows who really wins Just another chapter, worn and grand In the changing story of this land Now down in Delaware, another case A shadow falls on a powerful place A president's son, his past laid bare A purchased gun, a truth undeclared The scales of justice, slow and old Weigh the stories that are bought and sold One family's trouble, plain to see A mirror for you, a mirror for me So listen close to the whispering wind For tomorrow, a new tale will begin

But the tune's the same, and the story's old Just waiting for its turn to be told Yeah, waiting for its turn to be told.