"THE RULES KEEP CHANGING"

Copyright 2008 by Crystal Magic Music Publishing (ASCAP)
Words and Music by Michael Foster
Recorded in June-July 2007 at ROUGH CUT STUDIO, Eastford, Conn.
Mixed in April-May 2008 at GOLDEN SUN STUDIO, North Palm Beach, Florida.
Michael Foster: Electric Guitars (LEFT), Vocals, First Solo.
Mark Easton: Electric Guitars (RIGHT) Outro Solo.

Poltically speaking, there is a great deal of truth in this song. Nothing that used to be unacceptable for us to do as a country appears to have stayed unacceptable. And things that were always considered as basic rights and freedoms are vanishing. All the rules that were clear to me as I grew up in America are changing...and they are changing for the worse. When I look around me, I do not recognize the America I grew up in. The biggest rule change of all seems to be that unfairness and mean-spiritedness seem to be the acceptable norms. And all of these changes have been initiated by the political Right...so let the truth be told.

But we are also to blame.As a nation and as a people...we are largely asleep...or worse, we are in a coma....blinded by self-centeredness, and a false sense of entitlement and greed....and we have become so lazy and apathetic and so bombarded with misinformation that it has become too difficult to pay attention to the truth that is all around us...so we have become comfortable letting news commentators and spin doctors tell us what we're supposed to think about anything that really matters, which is a sure-fire recipe for disaster...since most of them are merely paid actors reading scripts...written especially for them by our corporate masters.

Our leaders wrap what they do in secrecy and deception, while starting wars with countries that have never attacked us...our government ignores the impending catastrophe of a planet facing unprecedented famines, droughts, and super storms...as a result of the ecological and environmental reality of Global Warming...simply because using the resources needed to reduce or eliminate the threat would interfere with Corporate profit margins.

Millions of people increasingly find it impossible to even seek relief from common sickness and illnesses...because today, only wealthy people can afford quality health care....the vast majority of this country's people are forced to choose between staying healthy...or having a roof over their heads...because as things are now...they cannot afford to do both. And as all of this plays out...the Oil , Insurance, and Pharmaceutical corporations are all posting mind-boggling, record-breaking profits.

We let wealthy CEOs raid the pension plans of employees who have been steady and loyal...and whose jobs are systematically shipped elsewhere...without any real legal consequences. We fight a "War on Drugs" while Intelligence Agencies fund Black Ops with drug trafficking profits. We are force-fed a steady diet of misinformation by Corporate-owned media... which usually focuses more on "who is sleeping with who"...than on asking the REALLY important questions...which just allows all of these things to continue to go...unchecked.

Because the cost of staying alive grows disproportionately to wages...and because most good quality jobs are exported to countries that don't care about America or Americans...more and more people find themselves struggling and exhausted...and so distracted with the business of just trying to "make ends meet"...that most people just don't have the time, the energy, or the attention span to pay attention to the changing "playing field"....or to say "enough is enough!"...and to remind this government that WE pay THEIR salaries...and that THEY work for US. Many of the rules that always made America a light...and a beacon of hope...unfortunately no longer apply, today.

Our leaders ignore a Basic Truth...that this world is not ours to plunder...we are just some of the current tenants...and for the first time in our entire nation's history....the promise of a better life and a better tomorrow for our children and grandchildren then the one we were given by our parents and grandparents...is rapidly becoming...just a memory. All the rules....have changed.

Hugs...Mike (NAV)

1st Verse

The rules keep changing…
The game’s gotten rough, the game’s gotten mean...
The rules keep changing…
There ain’t nobody dirty, there ain’t nobody clean...
As the rules keep changing…
The truth always seems to get caught in the squeeze...
The rules keep changing…
We keep playing that game while we’re down on our knees.

(FIRST CHORUS)

Nobody’s seeing… Nobody’s caring...
Nobody’s giving…Nobody’s sharing...
Nobody’s winning…Nobody’s smiling...
No one’s believing…so there’s nobody trying...

2nd Verse

And the world keeps changing…
The proof always seems to run away from me...
The world keeps changing…
And the more that I look…the less that I see...
‘Cause the rules keep changing…
They keep on changing what’s wrong and what’s right....

he rules keep changing…

'Til we can’t see the truth…like a blind man at night.

(SECOND CHORUS)

Nobody’s seeing…Nobody’s caring...
Nobody’s giving…Nobody’s sharing...
Nobody’s winning…if everyone’s losing...
No one’s believing…’cause everyone’s using…

(GUITAR SOLO)

And the rules keep changing...

Changing....

(REPEAT FIRST VERSE)

(THIRD CHORUS)

Nobody's seeing...noboby's caring...
Nobody’s giving… Nobody’s sharing...
No one’s believing…if everyone’s lying...
Can’t find no reasons…for so many dying...

And the rules...keep changing...
Can't you see?
They keep changing...
The rules have been broken...