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Song For Bradley Manning
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Bradley Manning is a political prisoner in the USA. This song is one of 13 from my latest studio recording, Big Red Sessions. Download the rest of the recording at www.davidrovics.com!
politics marijuana cannabis antiwar political iraq media social struggle israel cuba pirates environment labor afghanistan empire imperialism capitalism terrorism activism bullying bullies ecoterrorism guerrilla gardening irish hunger strike oil leaks oil spills social change
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"If the great Phil Ochs were to rise from the dead today, he would probably be hailed as the new David Rovics." Andy Kershaw, BBC
Song Info
Genre
Rock • Garage Rock
Charts
Peak #3
Peak in subgenre #1
Author
david rovics
Rights
2011
Uploaded
February 23, 2011
Track Files
MP3
MP3 10.0 MB • 320 kbps • 4:22
Story behind the song
Bradley Manning is a political prisoner in the USA. This song is one of 13 from my latest studio recording, Big Red Sessions. Download the rest of the recording!
Lyrics
Private Manning was an analyst if what they say is true He was paid to read reports and find the patterns sifting through As he read the data the patterns did emerge Patterns that were clear both before and since the Surge Patterns of abuse of the most horrific kind Gunning down civilians out of view and out of mind Gunning down the opposition in the middle of the night Sending off the scholars to be tortured out of sight Sometimes you need desperate measures when you live in desperate times And Private Manning saw he was looking at war crimes He wondered what to do to allow the dead to speak He finally decided to contact Wikileaks Now it's all out on the table and everybody knows The emperor is naked, he's not wearing any clothes Now Adrian Lamo has to live within his skin He stabbed Bradley in the back, called the cops and turned him in But not before the soldier took half a million files If you printed all the pages they'd stretch on for miles Evidence against the state right from the horse's mouth Machinations in the west, bombings in the south A treasure trove of details for all the globe to see How much they need to lie and kill for democracy How many drone strikes have hit villages leaving everyone to die They blamed on someone else – the official line, "Not I" How many coups have been plotted by ambassadors who say That free and fair elections be the order of the day Now it's all out on the table and everybody knows The emperor is naked, he's not wearing any clothes Now the Genie's out of the bottle and they're trying to stuff it back And stop it from illuminating everything we lack Such as the rule of law or playing by the book Look you can read it, it's right here, the ship of state is run by crooks And they vilify the messengers, call them every name For daring to blow the whistle on the nature of their game The game of taking lives and endangering the rest In order for the wealthy few to do what they do best Dominate the world for the corporate elite But now their cover's blown from their head down to their feet And now the stars and stripes is looking much more like a rag The lid is off the box, the cat's out of the bag Now it's all out on the table and everybody knows The emperor is naked, he's not wearing any clothes
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Michael Borkson
Jul 30, 2011
i like your Bradley Manning song--i checked out your web site on soundclick-200 songs; very impressive. i used to see you play in Harvard Square in Cambridge. Michael Borkson(the subway singer)