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Dispatches

from The Rebel Cell by Mud Sun

/

lyrics

Dispatches

These dispatches are just a form of
Democratic journalistic action
In the midst of war and civil clashes
We swarm into the fracas
And sort out the different factions
And report it back to the
Court of public opinion with dispassion

This is chapter six of Baba's dispatches
From the British axis
And I'm sad to report that the government's
Been acting every bit as fascist
As it has ever since the tragic Olympic massacre last year
Which left its victims in a pile of crisp ashes
And yet special mention must be made
Of the unstructured nature of the resistance
To the British big brother state
Something strange is happening
On England's gray streets
But there's no mystery
Its name is "Dizraeli"
Instead of the leadership they need
To get political prisoners of the state freed
And reinstate civil liberties
And eliminate the wage freeze
And get the laws changed
So they can live, work and play in peace
Dizraeli attacks anything even remotely mainstream
Unable, it seems, to discriminate between
What's real and what's make believe
I mean
Let's face it
While his nation is decimated by the politics of hatred
Dizraeli's response consists of "Let's get naked!"
As if there were no difference
Between clothes and prisons
'Cause uh,
"They're both restrictive and they're both 'systems'
And all systems are sinister
So we need a world with no systems
No governments and no citizens!"
That's the goal of his whole coalition
So now the British are trapped in the midst of this
Clash between militant fascists and idiot anarchists
And instead of a real leader like Mandela
The rebels here are wasting their efforts
On guerrilla theatre
It's a revolutionary special feature
With concession pricing
And I know it's tantalizing
When you feel your anger rising
To believe you can fight the system by vandalizing
Symbols of advertising
But you can't
Is that surprising?
'Cause the biggest rebels get paid the highest salaries
And Banksy paintings hang at the finest galleries
Defiance is just another survival strategy
Just like working nine to five to feed your family
This wasted insurrection is based on a basic misconception
Dizraeli sees capitalism as an agent of oppression
But what he calls 'The System' is mainly competition
It's businesses and political parties in opposition
And musician's competing for fans who want to listen
And writers have compositions
And publishers want to print them
And so, what's the problem with it?
Injustice is caused by limited budgets
And flaws in the structures of laws
And laws are changed by democratic action
And not by waving your arms around in erratic fashion
But Dizraeli does have the charismatic attraction
That a political leader needs to succeed
If only he understood what civil disobedience means
He could beat this regime
And get a mandate for change
Instead of just entertaining his fan base
And obsessing over advertising and brand names
He could transform the whole political landscape
If his message wasn't always drowning beneath
His symbolic dissidence and clowning speech
And middle fingers
Pointed in the direction of Downing street
At least he's running his insurrection non-violently
So for all those watching hopefully from overseas
There's still a chance this man
Will quit smoking dope and lead
The people of England out of this broken dream
But until then
I'm afraid I can see no relief
In sight
End of dispatch
Go in peace

credits

from The Rebel Cell, released August 1, 2008

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Baba Brinkman New York, New York

Science rapper and inventor of several novel hip-hop variants. Canadian transplant to New York. Pathological optimist.

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