Toy Aisle

I wrote this in 2004 while living in Manteca, CA. I really do go by the toy aisle when I'm in a Target or similar store. It's fun to think about how much some toys there would have excited me when I was younger. Oh, let's be honest: some still excite me. Star Wars Legos combine my two childhood obsessions into one nifty product. But, yeah, we give our kids some really messed up toys. I really did see figures for US Vietnam War-era soldiers. I was struck by the lack of figures for the Vietnamese soldiers, let alone civilians.

Whenever I'm in a big box store I swing by the toy aisle
To poke through all the newest stuff and reminisce a while
They've got rubber balls for kids to kick around in their yards
And for a rainy day they've got board games and playing cards

I continue my journey through this land of toys
And find a bag of plastic Indians and cowboys
It doesn't exactly fill me with pride
To see children playing genocide

Chorus: Hey friends don't you know
That this garbage has got to go

Then I we come to our old friend, Barbie Doll
She's rich, tall, and blond, and her boobs are big the girl she's got it all
And twelve year old girls will puke up their dinner
As they keep trying to get thinner and thinner

Chorus

Next is a twelve inch action figure of a soldier from the Vietnam War
With a cloth uniform and all the gear, who could ask for more?
They don't make figures of the dead and the lame
They make war look like one big fun game

Chorus

As I ponder all these things my heart is filled with sorrow
Because I know that in the children of today lie the seeds of tomorrow
Yet as I ponder all these things my heart is filled with hope
'cause when kids ask us for this crap we can always tell 'em "nope"