Women sewed the stars and stripes
And the men, they fought the wars
Children learned arithmetic
And everyone was poor
Young man was the hero of the day
Long long hours and short short pay
Lesson I learned in a history book, now
Lesson I learned in a history book, now
It's not what they taught me
Folk lore, folk lore, folk lore
Your mama never told you
Folk lore, folk lore, folk lore
Your mama never told you
Now the women scream for equal rights
Their man wants to have an affair
Children learn to hate the world
And no one seems to care
Lesson I learned in a history book, now
Lesson I learned in a history book, now
It's not what they taught me
Folk lore, folk lore, folk lore
Your mama never told you that
Folk lore, folk lore, folk lore
Your mama never told you that
Some things never change
Some things stay the same
Some things rearranged
One thing I know for sure, heroes always die