Every time you shake someone's hand
and it feels like your best friend
Could it be that it's only superficiality?
Without regard to well-being
without an inkling of compromise
Handshakes are nothing but a subtle: fuck you

Contracts determine the best friendships

This is the way of the modern world
everyone's vying for patronage
This is the way of the modern world
and something has gotta give

Every time you shake someone's hand
And you share neither color or creed
You gotta overcome the obstacles of history
There is restrained passion, mistrust, and bigotry
And these have created the new foundations of society

There's no harmony just class and race

This is the way of the modern world
Everyone's fighting for dominance
This is the way of the modern world
And something has gotta give

Now I believe in unity
and I am willing to compromise
But I'm not gonna lie or sell my soul

Every time you shake someone's hand
It determines where you stand
And if you won't uphold your side then it's better to

Fend for yourself
Fend for yourself
Fend for yourself and shun the handshake

(I believe in unity and I am willing to compromise)
(I believe in unity but I'm not gonna lie or sell my soul)

Someone's gotta give