Hush, Little Citizen

Lullabye for a Somnambulant Public

(See a live performance at

Hush now, little citizen,

Forget what you have seen,

Yes, we know that it was broadwaved,

Every world on every screen,

Yes, we know you heard her dying words,

You heard her dying screams,

But please just watch our puppet show,

Don't ask who pulls the strings.

Hush now, little citizen,

Hush now, don't you cry,

Your daddy doesn’t torture,

No your daddy doesn't lie,

Your daddy has it covered up,

So please don't make a fuss,

Don't pretend that you've seen monsters,

Don't pretend they look like us!

CHORUS: Don't stand up, just lie down,

There are no monsters eating flesh,

Just monsters wearing crowns.

Don’t think that we are meddlesome,

Don't think we're in your heads,

You can stop the signal,

If you'll just go back to bed,

We are not some evil empire,

This is not what it seems,

So don't wake up somnambulists,

Just go back to your dreams.

CHORUS

So shut up, little citizen,

Cuz Parliament knows best,

Just put your thumb back in your mouth,

When you want to protest,

If you should start to question,

If our wars are justified,

Just swallow all our talking points,

And you'll be pacified.

CHORUS

Don't count the price of gas, my child,

Don't count the price of oil,

Don't count the price of soldier's blood,

That's shed on foreign soil.

Don't count the size of bonuses,

On Exxon-Mobil's head,

Just line up where we tell you,

For your circuses and bread.

CHORUS

We're building better nations,

Better worlds, every one,

Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan,

And we have just begun,

So if chickens should come home to roost,

Please lock Pandora's box,

Just shut your eyes and close your minds,

And listen to the fox!

CHORUS X2