Gil Scott-Heron: 1980

Thank you very much, thank you
Thank you, thanks, thanks everybody, yes thank you

Robot dignitaries better welcome you
Aliens part as you pass on through(?)
Nourishment and encouragement for the captain and his crew
Includes a ticker tape parade down the Main Avenue(?)

And you're captured by the dream machine
you wake up and you wonder what it means
It's 1980
And there ain't even no way back to '75 or 1969
It's 1980
And ain't nobody ask me no time lately "how we gonna open the door for 1984?"

God will continue to look out for the children
But the fools will have to look out for themselves

Space is the place but you stuck on the ground
If powers continue but without the sound
A universal dress rehearsal paints the town
But boogie-woogie somewhere in the lost and found

I don't mean to say that you're behind the times
But only that the times got away from you
And it's 1980
And there ain't even no way back to '75, much less 1969
It's 1980
And ain't nobody ask me no time lately "Brother help me open the door for 1984"

God will continue to look out for the children
But the fools will have to look out, look out, look out

The robot mayor is there to shake your hand
But he ain't never seen himself no earth man
Heard a funny word he just don't understand
But he hope that it don't mean you need a piece of land

Does it seem like such a long long way to come
To end up right back where you coming from?
It's 1980
And there ain't even no way back to '75, or much less 1969
It's 1980
And ain't nobody ask me no time lately "how we gonna open the door for 1984?"

God will continue to look out for the children
But the fools are gonna have to learn to fend for themselves

God will continue to watch over the babies
But the fools who never learn, never learn

God will continue to watch over the babies
But the fools are gonna have to watch out, watch out, watch out
Watch out
Watch out