[Intro]
This week’s been a war of headlines...
One battle after another.
And through it all, I keep hearing that art’s to blame.
But it isn’t.
It never was.
[Verse 1]
They send troops into our neighborhoods,
they kick down doors in the night.
They redraw the maps of freedom
and call that justice done right.
But a song ain’t a weapon,
and a movie’s not a sin.
It’s the truth they can’t handle
that keeps burning in the wind.
[Chorus]
Art is not the enemy...
Authoritarianism is.
You can jail a poet,
but the words still live.
You can ban a story,
but the truth still bleeds.
Art is not the enemy...
Authoritarianism is.
[Verse 2]
They fear the brush, the pen, the drum,
the voice that dares to rise.
They call it chaos,
but it’s only people opening their eyes.
You can take away the spotlight,
but not the spark beneath the skin.
Every time they try to silence us,
the song begins again.
[Chorus]
Art is not the enemy...
Authoritarianism is.
You can raid the canvas,
but the color still resists.
You can burn the records,
but the echo still exists.
Art is not the enemy...
Authoritarianism is.
[Bridge]
(guitar fades, voice in the clear)
When truth is outlawed,
the outlaw tells the truth.
And when power shakes in fear,
that’s when you know the song is working.
[Outro
(guitar returns softly)
So sing it loud...
for those who can’t.
Paint it bright...
for those who won’t.
Because silence serves power.
And art...
serves freedom.
Art is not the enemy.
Authoritarianism is.