Taking Alcatraz

So Richard Oakes gave me a call
From San Francisco late in the fall
He said it's going down
He said we're gonna take the island as a monument
To the smallpox blankets and the bureaucrats
All you gotta do is come along
You catch a bus tomorrow
And if we die there
Well at least we'll make a choice
If we're fine there
We can tell the boys
That a line in the sand
Don’t matter if you don’t care
That a bird in the hand is worthless if you're too scared
So clear my name and clear my throat
Find my voice and here we go again
Need a place to stand
I hear sirens down the street from the third shift bar
I'm gonna park my car in the painted-off place where the bikers park
See what happens then
And if I die here
Well at least I made a choice
If I'm fine here
Just please tell the boys
That a line in the sand don’t matter
If you don't care
That a bird in the hand is worthless if you're too scared
My friends keep calling
I don’t pick up
I got nothing to say that I can’t just make up anyway
I got all this shit to do
I turned you off on the radio
I turn around it's in a tv show
I turn that off too
I remember when I knew you
And if I'm fine here
Well I made my choice
If I die here
Please just tell the boys
That a line in the sand don’t matter
If you don't care
That a bird in the hand is worthless you're too scared
That a line in the sand don’t matter
If you don't care
That a bird in the hand is worthless you are too scared