Acceptable Risks

20 years back Out at Yucca Flats Our trucks were winding down To the testing site They had a bomb out there I still see it clear It turned night to day And day to endless night 11 hundred soldiers Easy duty, come back paid Truck down to watch that fireball I still see it clear as day But it wasn't what they showed us It was what they didn't say And if I knew what I was getting into Nothing could have dragged me down To pay the price I've got to pay today Oh, they told me it was safe And they swore that it was true They said the risks are all acceptable Acceptable to who? They can't cover up the truth no more I feel it in my bones You can fool yourself with numbers But you pay the price alone Well, they marched us down Sat us on the ground And I think they knew What they never said out loud Our only shelter there Was the desert air With our hands on our faces Our backs to the deadly cloud Then the world went wide I swear I saw the bones in both my hands The ground was glowing cherry red So hot we could not stand And something deep inside me knew Just what the army planned 'Cause that deadly time bomb started clickin' Deep within my bones it's tickin' You hear that sound You're quick to understand But they told me it was safe And they swore that it was true They said the risks are all acceptable Acceptable to who? They can't cover up the truth no more I feel it in my bones You can fool yourself with numbers But you pay the price alone 20 years passed, this year's my last And I still can't quite believe just what they did 20 years passed slow, and all I got to show Is a lousy pension for my widow and my kids So I thought you would hear this warning Of one who's been hit hard About their testing sites and their power plants With their fences and their guards 'Cause that time bomb, it's a-tickin' still And it's right in your backyard And if you knew what you was gettin' into What it finally all comes down to Maybe you'll believe it when I'm dead Oh, they'll tell you that it's safe And they'll swear to you it's true They'll say the risks are all acceptable Acceptable, acceptable, acceptable to who? They can't cover up the truth When it is burned in your bone They can fool you with their numbers But you'll pay the price alone, alone, all alone