Yeah They were sure I was guilty
but I committed no crime
They said confessions
bring lenience
so that put me on the line
So I, protest the massacres
at the Tiannamen Square
My friends say yo
stay away man
you better not go
fucking back there Oh
Watch this
One night I might write about
my opinions about the state
And the freedom of expression
they would never tolerate
And the, military secrets
that I never did steal
I didn’t start no violence, no
and there was nobody
that I killed No
So I had a clear account
of all abusers of power
And the memories of homeland
all gone sour
And I only got one weapon
it’s so plain for me to see
My only weapon I call, poetry
And I don’t even know why
The truth seems like a lie
In my cell there is no sky
When I was arrested in Shanghai
Now, in a world of privilege
I was not born
But, the devotion of freedom
and liberty I was sworn
So, every emotion is studied
watched their control
Who gets paid
who gets disciplined
who gets born
So, transmitting beams
my coordinates anywhere on Earth
And, as radio waves
surveillance, satellite bursts
Open up your skull
and let some knowledge come in
Ya, crack open the cranium
and let awareness begin Oh
And I don’t even know why
The truth seems like a lie
In my cell there is no sky
When I was arrested in Shanghai
When I was arrested in Shanghai
When I was arrested
in Shanghai Woo
cked down
and they put you first in line
And so you finally ask yourself
just how big you are
and take your place in a wiser
world of bigger motor cars
<Intelrude>
So Where the hell was Biggles
when you needed him
last Saturday
And where were all the sportsmen
who always pulled you though
They're all resting down
in Cornwall
writing up their memoirs
for a paper-back edition
of the Boy Scout Manual
See there! A man born