We Thought We Were Free

We thought we were free, But freedom doesn’t come passively

[Verse 1]
It didn’t fall in a single night
No tyrant stormed the gate
It came by silence and stage-light lies
And rage repackaged as fate
Each step so small, we barely stirred
Too slow to fear or flee
We clung to forms and hollow words
We thought we were free

[Verse 2]
One by one, the guardrails bent
The crowd just shrugged and stared
The crimes became the government
And no one really cared
He caged the child, he praised the strong
He mocked our liberty
We called it “news,” then moved along
We thought we were free

[Chorus]
Now the echoes sound like history
But this ain’t black-and-white TV
It’s flesh and blood and cowardice
And what we let become routine
They called us safe, they called us brave
While killing truth in every screen
We thought we were free
But freedom doesn’t come passively

[Verse 3]
A judge was threatened, no one flinched
The mob wore suits and ties
He promised power unchecked and clenched
And still we compromised
The loyalists drew up the plans
To purge the civil tree
We watched it happen, hands in hands
We thought we were free

[Bridge]
The boots don’t march, they creep in shadows
The fear comes wrapped in pride
The loyal cheer, the brave keep quiet
And conscience steps aside
A little worse, a little more
Until the soul can’t see
Until the kids speak hate like folklore
And think they’re being free

[Chorus]
Now the echoes sound like history
But this ain’t some old enemy
It’s here, it’s now, it’s every day
We stopped reacting, lost our way
Democracy don’t die in war
It dies in slow and silent sleep
We thought we were free
But freedom dies in apathy

[Outro]
Raise your voice, don’t let it be
Just whispers in a memory
We thought we were free
Let’s fight like we still believe