Written by John Mellencamp

Virginia's in the bath house sayin', "Don't drink the water,"
And I'm already in the swimmin' pool.

The woman in the straw hat said, "The meat ain't worth eatin',"
And sunbathin' here, baby, ain't so cool.
There's a hole in the ozone and the rats all got cancer
From too much tartar and nicotine.
Well, what kind of world do we live in
When the babysitter treats all the kids so mean?

No trespassing will blow your brains out,
Will do it with atomic bomb.
They're cuttin' down the rain forest and the food here's fattenin',
And I hope there's no satanic message in this song.
But, there's Live Aid and Farm Aid and all kind of hand grenades
To help us all get along.
Well, what kind of world do we live in
When ev'rything we do turns out so wrong?

Well, what kind of world do we live in
When eleven and seven equals two? Yeah.
What kind of world do we live in
When you do it to your buddy 'fore he does it to you?
Got to do it to your buddy 'fore he does it to you.

The preacher he hands out verse and scripture
Just like he wrote it down himself.
Doctors and lawyers got a good thing going,
But that ain't no place to go if you need help.
There's too much sodium in my heartburn medicine
And I think I need to lay down for awhile.
Well, what kind of world do we live in
When ev'rything we do we do with such style?

Well, what kind of world do we live in
When eleven and seven equals two? Yeah.
What kind of world do we live in
When you do it to your buddy 'fore he does it to you?
Got to do it to your buddy 'fore he does it to you.