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American Beef Cow (3:36)

If I was an American beef cow,
You can bet that I would be mad too.
If you make me a meat-eater,
Then what’s a cow supposed to do?
You eat meat, I know it’s true;
Don’t make me a meat-eater too.
If I was an American beef cow,
You can bet that I would be mad too.

If I was an American beef cow,
Don’t you know that I would be mad too.
I’m a sentient creature,
With feelings just like you.
My teeth are flat for grinding,
That’s what they’re for;
Everybody knows that I’m an herbivore.
If I was an American beef cow,
Don’t you know that I would be mad too.

If I was an American beef cow,
You can bet that I would be mad too.
If you feed me with my brother,
Well, what’s a cow supposed to do?
I eat grass, until I’m full;
Don’t turn me into a cannibull.
If I was an American beef cow,
You can bet that I would be mad too.

If you were an American beef cow,
I’ll bet that you would be mad too.
Brain stems and spinal cords,
Would mess your diet too.
Children of America, how does it feel,
To eat slaughterhouse scraps in your Happy Meal?
If you were an American beef cow,
I’ll bet that you would be mad too.

Spoken:
Now I’m not a beef cow, I’m a Buddhist monk.
But it doesn’t take a scientist, veterinarian or a FDA inspector to point out that cows should eat grass. There’s wisdom in the thought that I am what I eat. I think of a steak or burger, bacon or chops as my body, just one bite removed. These days the meat and dairy industry in a questionable cost-cutting strategy, dispose of their slaughterhouse waste by feeding it back to the cows, along with growth hormones, antibiotics, poultry litter and what are politely called rendered animal byproducts. Now if cows could speak, I'll bet they’d say, "For goodness sakes, please stop feeding us beef!"

If we were all American beef cows,
You could bet that we would be mad too.
What you put into your steak,
Comes right back to you.
Meat is our addiction, we crave for more;
The ol’ law of karma’s gonna even the score.
If we were all American beef cows,
You can bet that we would be mad.
Bet that we would be mad,
Bet that we would be mad too.

© Rev. Heng Sure 2005 All Rights Reserved
Music: Traditional, arr. Rev. Heng Sure
Lyrics: Rev. Heng Sure

Written for the VegSource.com 2005 Healthy Lifestyle Expo, the premier national vegetarian conference. Every year doctors, dietitians, athletes, elders, and now Buddhist monks and nuns, come together to learn more about the planet and our bodies, and how to nourish them without harming living creatures. The song reacts to an article in the New York Times that discussed the FDA's refusal to ban the cruel and unwise practice of feeding ground-up animal parts to animals that Nature designed as vegetarians.