Freedom

Music, 1981 • Lyrics, 1982, 2019

In the 1960's
There still were places you could hide and be
Blind and deaf to the changes
Wreaking havoc in society

In Arkansas and Kansas you could
Still maintain your conservative airs
But when they died in Viet Nam
And at Kent State you said you really don't care

Cause freedom's a thing that you really don't know
It's just a word on a word on a TV screen
And when the White House said, "Get up and go"
You just went like sheep

Some didn’t come back…

In the 1970's there
Still were people who could see
The struggle had to go on
And not get lost in the mass apathy

Lennon asked us all to dream
To imagine where we could go
But the answer came back as a thundering cry
In unison the people shouted, "No!  No!  No!"

"Leave us alone we've got freedom at home
"To watch the TV screen
"We choose channel 9, channel 7, or 4
"Who's asking for more?"

The unemployed do....

In the 1980's now
The future of our country is in our hands
We can shut our eyes
Be like the ostrich hiding its head in the sand
Or we can wake up now
And see our clear responsibility
To ourselves, to our children
To the world as one, to the land and sea

Freedom's a jewel we must keep in our hearts
Or Ronald Reagan will take it away
And the Moral Majority
Pushes us backwards more and more each day

Freedom's a song we must sing in our lives
And we must sing it loud!
Or the power-crazy politicians misogynists
Will try and keep us down!

Sing it out now! 

It’s the 1990s now
A narcissist from Little Rock schmoozes the land
Tells us all what we want to hear
But selling out to Wall Street: the forever plan

Rwandan genocide — they knew all about it!
Super-predators, Monica Lewinsky
Bill took away the safety net
Then locked ‘em up and threw away the keys!

Freedom’s just a word in the cancer empire
Domination, baby, it’s the name of the game
The Fourth Estate just plays along
If they don’t shut up, they don’t get paid

At the dawn of the naughts
Darth Vader and company eviscerated lambs
Cowboy hats, shiny guns a’blazing
Never even thought up a follow-up plan

Aircraft carrier this “Mission Accomplished”
Television cameras, baby Bush beamed
But then the Ayatollahs partied
A new generation of jihadists dreamed

Freedom’s a mirage in double-speak America
Lies follow lies, we slowly go insane
We were never in danger, yet we sacrificed our liberty
Big Brother’s here, the surveillance state

Freedom’s an echo, it’s a dying ember
We’re too scared to give a damn, too scared to see
The shining city: high up there upon the hill
Is now a rolling stone, rolling into the sea

It’s the twenty-tens now
Obama’s just another Ronald Reagan again
Donald and his buddies brought the mob to Washington
The kleptocrats smile, they want to be your friend

Zuckerberg, A.I., Google and China
They’re in your computer, now they’re in your brain
Privacy is history, nothing is personal
Hello totalitarian state

Freedom™’s a trademarked ad-speak property
A dog whistle, must be time for war
Freedom™’s a drug for when the shackles cut too deep
Freedom™ slams shut the prison door

Freedom™’s a jingle, a bumper-sticker — Look-at-me!
Freedom™’s a brand, a hashtag trend
Got “Freedom™” on my T-shirt, fitted cap, underwear
I’m free to check my Twitter feed again

Freedom© isn’t free, it’s copyright protected
It’s an algorithm owned by Amazon
Freedom©’s red, white, white, white — oh so white — and blue
Never black, yellow, transgender or brown

Freedom©’s a mem’ry, but of what I can’t remember
Freedom© is serfdom, serfdom makes me free!
What’s that on my Instagram, Tinder swipe — sex for free!
Wait, wait — what was that — a catastrophe?

What catastrophe?

© Kirtland C. Peterson, 1981/1982/2019