#dissent

Sign the paper, hide the scars, And we will make you overnight stars. We’ll build your throne and spin your spin, Just seal your lips on where you’ve been. Play the puppet, mouth the lies, And watch your rapid sales will rise. The boardroom parasites demand your youth, But they will never pay for truth.

For whisper a word of what is real— The bruised-up knuckles, the stolen deal, The bleeding art, the manager’s bite, The freezing hours in the neon light— And the velvet doors will slam on you, That vicious, gilded, Catch-22. They want a product, clean and bright, Not your screaming conscience in the night.

[CHORUS] Bow your head or break your name, The system plays a rigged-up game. From Whitehall halls to classroom floors, The truth is locked behind the doors. So sign the line or walk away, There is a bloody price to pay. They buy the world, they buy the view, And trap you in their Catch-22!

Step inside the classroom door, And watch the syllabus wage its war. The educator learns the rigid school: Hit Ofsted metrics, be a data tool. Teach to the Progress 8 design, Keep every student trapped in line. Deliver the pre-packaged slide, Where critical thought is pushed aside. Flesh out the spreadsheet, flag the risk, And keep your lesson plans concise and brisk. Inspire a radical, challenge the test, And HR will quickly purge the rest.

The writer and the poet find The exact same handcuffs on the mind. The agents demand a viral hook, A BookTok trend to sell the book. The algorithmic shadowban awaits The verse that challenges the states. Feed the SEO machine, Keep the content safe and clean. Draft a line that cuts to the bone, And watch your reach collapse alone.

[CHORUS] Bow your head or break your name, The system plays a rigged-up game. From Whitehall halls to classroom floors, The truth is locked behind the doors. So sign the line or walk away, There is a bloody price to pay. They buy the world, they buy the view, And trap you in their Catch-22!

The scribbler at the media desk Must paint the slaughter as picturesque; A corporate hack with a rented pen, Rewriting PR wires again and again. Chase the clickbait, bury the lead, Or get blacklisted for a truthful deed.

Cross the river to Westminster’s halls, Where the Chief Whip’s lash echoes on the walls. The non-conformist MP takes their seat, To find democracy is just a cheat. Sign the early day motion for show, But when the division bell rings, you go Straight through the lobby your leaders pick, Or face the suspension sharp and quick. Take the lobbyist’s hospitality pass, And raise a corporate-funded glass. But rebel on the floor, speak for the poor, And they’ll withdraw the whip and lock the door. Expose the think-tank donor’s bribe, And you're cast out from the ruling tribe.

[CHORUS] Bow your head or break your name, The system plays a rigged-up game. From Whitehall halls to classroom floors, The truth is locked behind the doors. So sign the line or walk away, There is a bloody price to pay. They buy the world, they buy the view, And trap you in their Catch-22!

Speak the truth and fade away, Or sell your soul to make them pay? Honesty leaves the pockets bare, While polished fictions fill the air. A martyr's crown or a diamond’s gleam: You cannot have the truth and the dream. So choke the honesty inside your throat, Or drown at sea in a leaking boat.

What blue wave?

The blue wave that’s going to keep supporting Israel’s genocidal atrocities?

The blue wave that’s going to keep supporting Trump’s fascist tyranny agenda?

Or the blue wave that’s beholden to corrupt corporate interests?