The album opener is about the “big brother” of governments and corporations using data and manipulating the public. I was thinking about the stories of people whose lives have been turned upside down by incorrect information about them in “the system”. People who have been unable to live a normal life because that system says they’re dead. How it takes years to correct a demonstrably false database entry.
We hand our entire lives over to a computer system that is designed, built and maintained by people. It’s terrifying. You can guarantee that some of those same people don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re”. If any of those people are reading this, it’s “you’re dead lol” when you tweet about how you just changed my status to “deceased” on my banking system. Your welcome. Shit.
This song was written around 15 years ago but is more relevant than ever in today’s UK, thanks to propaganda surrounding Brexit and the revelations around Cambridge Analytica.
The chorus is a call to the individual – we can make a difference; we can be counted, and we can have a voice. As Extinction Rebellion are currently proving, you don’t have to riot to be noticed and achieve change.