No sooner did I blog the little poem I wrote after the 2016 Logan CIJ Symposium last night, than it turned into a draft of that song about the false liberty-security opposition I’ve been wanting to write…
Now if I could only sing in the kitchen alone without dying of embarrassment. And where’s my band? We have practice tonight, didn’t you know??
***
“XXX?!”
A minor
V1
Our (E) fathers’ (hG E) fathers (DC) made (A) a (E) deal
to (C) dwell in (D) hope (E), not (F) live (E) in (D) fear (E).
Life (B), liberty (CBA), and pursuit (GA) of (C) happiness (CDE)
require (hFG) the audacity (GF) of hope (E), no (D) less (E).
Now (E) Obama (EFE) says (D) it’s (C) privacy (B) or (C) security (lBA)—
that (lA) to (G) live (A) free (B), we (C) trade some liberty (CDE).
But (E) there’s (F) no (E) lawful (C) society (C lA) to (D) keep free
under (E) mass (F) surveillance (ED) of (C) you (A) and (E) me.
V2
How (B) can I (C) make (B) whole (A) my (B) own heart
with (A) someone (lG) storing every broken (GA) part (B)?
Holding (C) a hammer (B) and collecting (lA F) nails (F)
is (F) no way to balance Justice’s (FG) scales.
All (E) the haystacks (DC) on (lA) earth can’t hold all the (G) needles (AC),
and (B) we hurt (C) the (B) good (A) thrashing (D) through (C) for the (B) evils (A).
There’s (F) no (E) lawful (C) society (C lA) to (D) keep free
under (E) mass (F) surveillance (ED) of (C) you (A) and (E) me.
V3
It’s (C) a (lA) false (C) opposition (CB)
That (A) comes to its fruition (GAB)
With (A) war (G) drums beating
Through (B) veins (A) swiftly (AG) heating (A).
ISIS (BG) says (B) “This (C) will (B) be (A) your (lF) head (A)”
I’ll (G) choose (C) to keep (B) my own (A) instead (lF AG).
There’s (F) no (E) lawful (C) society (C lA) to (D) keep free
under (E) mass (F) surveillance (ED) of (C) you (A) and (E) me.
All (E) the haystacks (DC) on (lA) earth can’t hold all the (G) needles (AC),
and (B) we hurt (C) the (B) good (A) thrashing (D) through (C) for the (B) evils (A).
There’s (F) no (E) lawful (C) society (C lA) to (D) keep free
under (E) mass (F) surveillance (ED) of (C) you (A) and (E) me.
—
Modeled on “Russians” (structure, spirit), by Sting & Sergei Prokofiev.
