The Great Compromise (song)

The Great Compromise is a song written and performed by John Prine. The song was included on Prine's album Diamonds in the Rough which was released by Atlantic Records in 1972. It is an anti-war song and a protest song. Its theme is the disillusionment of the country during the Vietnam War era. In the liner notes to his 1993 anthology Great Days, Prine writes of this song, "The idea I had in mind was that America was this girl you used to take to drive-in movies. And then when you went to get some popcorn, she turned around and screwed some guy in foreign sports car. I really love America. I just don't know how to get there anymore."

Chorus:
'I used to sleep at the foot of old glory
And awake in the dawn’s early light
But much to my surprise
When I opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise'