Broken American Dream

I’m in the promised land, or so they say  
Quality and money galore, or so they say  
You’re living the better life, or so they say  
So much better than what they know  
But they don’t know what I know  
 
I can be myself, but not too much  
Say something, but not too loudly  
Live your life, but don’t be proud  
Pushing and pulling for my own protection  
Now I haven’t got a sense of direction  
 
Expensive equals happiness  
Extortion is success  
Explaining is talking too much  
Just be grateful,  
Till you completely lose touch  
 
I’m not a selling point of the ideal  
Tell that to my bank account  
And the rising dollar signs  
Of what it means to live  
 
I’m not living proof of the culture  
Tell that to all of the sides  
Where enough is never nearly enough  
But all I’ve got is Me to give  
 
I’m glistening little parts  
I’m shattered rhinestone hopes  
I’m Red, White, Blue, and a mellow Yellow  
 
I’m astray with too much potential  
I’m pretty little fragments of the  
Broken American Dream