1. |
NO SIR, I WON'T
04:37
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DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE?
IN THE SYSTEM THAT MADE YOU A SLAVE?
WILL YOU STAND OR WILL YOU KNEEL
WHEN THEY THREATEN ALL YOU LOVE?
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE ANSWER
TO THE QUESTIONS FROM ABOVE
WILL YOU BOW BEFORE THE MASTERS?
No Sir, I Won't.
the spark of life is lost when organization becomes institution
when choices are made based only on tradition
no system should endure beside the timeless works of art
that last for beauty's sake, because they're born within our hearts
but they've built the wall of history up so high, that now we can't see over
tear it down, and use the stones to build our future
the bones of nation-states, the shattered remnants of society
it all gets swept aside by the rushing, sweeping forward tide
the time has come to ask what it means to be alive
well?
DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE?
IN THE SYSTEM THAT MADE YOU A SLAVE?
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE ANSWER
TO THE QUESTION OF AUTHORITY
[as i stare out at the city
and think of all the people whose lives have come before
i hear the sounds getting closer
the weaver and the carpenter prepare themselves for war
i look out over the crowd
with my back to the wall
someday it will crumble
someday it will fall]
this decaying edifice which we have built is not democracy
and if we build on it's foundations what's the end for you and me?
(authority)
from Berlin to Palestine, we hear the people's voices call
for we've never brooked entrapment in their jails, behind their walls
we've seen the impossible made real, as with one then so with all
someday they have to crumble, someday they have to fall
we've fought for far too long with the weapons that they gave us
our thoughts and words dictated by our repressive education
we must liberate our spirits, wrest our minds from their control
we must never give up until each of us is whole
until every human is just that, a human, just themselves
not a demographic, not a target audience, not a source of revenue,
not a voting bloc, just an individual,
until then there can be no true liberty
in the face of authoritarian governance there can be no autonomy
there can be only one true answer
to the question of authority,
to participation in the system,
to the lure of false democracy...
No Sir, I Won't.
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2. |
ELEVATORS
03:21
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how can i find the truth
when i can't even find a job?
we're too busy making things easier
to notice what we've lost
okay, okay
how can i sell myself
when i don't even know the cost?
we're too busy making things cheaper
to find out what we've lost
the elevator's waiting
but we're still on the ground floor
IS IT THE DOOR THAT KEEPS US OUT?
or is it something more?
we've got a lot to do
but it's not shit, i know, i know
the endless loop repeating
while the elevator's waiting
Human dignity and self-respect cannot be constrained by the laws of nations
nor can they be destroyed by the souless technology with which we surround ourselves
progress is just one more empty notion thrust upon us by this society
while we drift further and further from the essence of a compassionate life
we think we've got the answer
but we've got to face reality
we've got it the wrong way around
invention is the mother of
necessity!
necessity!
well what do you need?
what do you really need?
they're not selling the product, it's the con
Edison knew this
selling an infrastructure, selling a need
one used to serve so many, now everyone's got their own
do you even know how hard it is to find a public telephone?
the clock outside the bank, the church bells in the square
we've cut the cord of community, but no one seems to care
how can i find the truth?
when i'm just a human being being human
and I never did like elevators. I'd rather take the stairs.
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3. |
HARRY HARLOW
03:31
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oh, isn't it amazing? that monkey's got no brain
that one just runs in circles, and that one's so well trained
and see that little girl, the one with nothing in her eyes
the nurse makes a notation in the chart each time she cries
a cold steel embrace
the silence of the grave
torturing another
just to learn how we behave
now open the door, take a look at the rest
every last humiliation, every battery of tests
every atom split to sanctify the temples of your will
while the old gods lie in ruin and the monkeys suffer still
innocence lost forever, a cold steel embrace
pleas for reason fade away in the silence of the grave
advance the cause of humanity by torturing another
is it worth the price we pay just to learn how we behave?
follow the wires back from the monkey's head
to the robot arm it uses to please its captors,
as the worker uses her sweat to please the manager
but who is watching from the other side of the glass?
God? Harry Harlow? Josef Mengele?
if we can bridge the gap of nature
we can recreate reality in our own image
but are our minds so infallible, is our vision so pure?
it's just the smallest step from this side of the glass to that
animals and humans lie side by side on the altar
they've got us trained, they've inserted their machines into every aspect of our lives
we're already the ones in the experiment
exploit the weak, the worker, doglike as he is
rape the woman, whose needs mean nothing and whose body is your crucible
THIS IS THE MESSAGE!
by allowing the torture of animals we've opened the door to
degradation, dehumanization, boredom, boredom, boredom, boredom
but now the wires are in our heads
and they're plugged into our brains
it's not for science or manufacture
it's to drive us totally insane
just an alternating current
that's all we really are
flip the switch to negative
now we're the robot arm!
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4. |
NO MORE POETRY
02:16
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no more fucking poetry
that world is done
we've sold off all the metaphors
we've pawned the moon, the sun
and layed them in the ground beside our old imagination
beside the corpse of history
just stories that they tell to us
not written by the victors because no one is victorious
the ghost of 1984
nothing means much anymore
the future is so bright
that we've all been blinded by it
the old world is gone
it's a new world, but there's no bravery
we've gotta find a new life
we must be free
oh you're bored of politics?
well so the fuck am i
but just because you close your eyes won't make it go away
oh the party's over?
well what a tragedy
but did you really that kindness could be replaced by greed?
if you hide your head beneath the sand
the rest of you is going to end up underneath the ground
if you're only watching your own back
you won't even notice when the television screens have gone to black
WE'VE GOTTA FIND A NEW LIFE
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5. |
(REPRISE)
01:48
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Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in this town
See me and the boys we don't like it
So were getting up and going down
Hiding low looking right to left
If you see us coming I think it's best
To move away do you hear what I say
From under my breath
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So don't you be around
Don't you be around
Tonight there's gonna be trouble
Some of us won't survive
See the boys and me mean business
Bustin' out dead or alive
I can hear the hound dogs on my trail
All hell breaks loose, alarm and sirens wail
Like the game if you lose
Go to jail
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So don't you be around
Tonight there's gonna trouble
I'm gonna find myself in
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So woman stay with a friend
You know it's safer
Breakout!
Tonight there's gonna be a breakout
Into the city zones
Don't you dare to try and stop us
No one could for long
Searchlight on my trail
Tonight's the night all systems fail
Hey you good lookin' female
Come here!
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So don't you be around
Tonight there's gonna be trouble
I'm gonna find myself in
Tonight there's gonna be trouble
So woman stay with a friend
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6. |
WHEN YOU GONNA REALIZE?
06:17
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was there ever a time when everything turned out right,
when we didn't have to fight for every breath?
was there ever a time when we didn't feel this way,
when life didn't just mean hanging on day to day?
was there ever a place where we were really safe,
or was it all just the ignorance of youth?
when you gonna realize?
when you gonna realize what you gotta do?
when you gonna realize it ain't about you?
when you gonna realize?
was there ever a world that really cared for us,
or were we just too blind to see the truth?
was there ever a song that really meant something,
or did we sing just because we felt alone?
how can we fight for justice, fight for love, fight for peace
when we're so full of despair?
when you gonna realize?
when you gonna realize what you gotta do?
when you gonna realize it ain't about you?
when you gonna realize?
love is not a plaything for the rich and powerful
and hate, well you taught us to hate, we never had a choice at all
born into a system of
institutionalized greed
but it's just another effect,
a product of your social policies
blind to what is false and what is true
the smiling faces on TV, they don't know what to do
when you gonna realize
that every one of us down here is just like you
the halls of power echo with the adman's brittle laugh
our poetry corrupted by accountants selling "truth"
when you gonna realize
that every tear, each drop of blood, every bead of sweat is not enough
to fill the emptiness, these cities of your ruin
the burden of our knowledge gained but wisdom lost, our history dead
our institutions crumble more each day
when you gonna realize
the flood is coming, the water's rising,
no saviours this time, we must make our own love
when you gonna realize what you've gotta do?
when you gonna realize it ain't about you?
a million people in the same position
a billion people, and all of them wishing
that they could be you, but it's easy to be free
when you're part of the problem, just a leaf on the tree
while we're being punished
for accepting a fate we don't want to begin with
we never asked to be part of this
I don't want to be part of this
we never asked to be part of this
i refuse to be part of this
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