I Wrote This Instead of Screaming

They're editing the dictionary in the dead of night,
Crossing out 'fascist', underlining 'polite'.
They're selling cheap comfort in a patriotic red,
While they're building new cages inside of your head. 
I got my free speech on a corporate leash.
A trigger warning disclaimer before I can screech. 
And they told me my volume was frankly a crime,
So I'm smiling for mugshots and doing the time. 

And I'm checking my pulse, am I losing my mind? 
Did we read all the same books? Did we leave sense behind? 
'Cause the history channel's got nothing but static,
And the logic feels suddenly... problematic. 

So paint me the villain, a threat to the state,
For showing up early to a party of hate. 
Funny how 'anti-fascist' is the name of a crime,
While you're quoting the villains of a different time. 
Make me a monster, I'll be your witness.
Guess the good guys in black are just bad for business.

They wave a big flag, but the fabric is cheap,
And they promise you safety while you are asleep.
They need a good monster to haunt you at night,
So you don't see the wolf standing in the spotlight. 
And the pundits all chirped, with a wink and a nod,
That the ones who fight monsters might be the real frauds. 
It's a neat little trick, it's a hell of a show, 
Just blame the smoke alarm for the inferno. 

And I'm reading the headlines, am I seeing this right? 
They're saluting the darkness and cursing the light. 
The moral compass is spinning, erratic. 
And my patience is getting... cinematic. 

So you paint me the villain, a threat to the state,
For showing up early to a party of hate. 
Funny how 'anti-fascist' is the name of a crime,
While you're quoting the villains of a different time. 
Make me a monster, I'll be your witness. 
Guess the good guys in black are just bad for business. 

Let's get etymological, darling, let's break it down slow. 
'Anti' means 'against', in case you didn't know. 
So when you scream my name from your pedestal's height,
Who are you telling the world that you're willing to fight? 
When you punish the antibody for attacking disease,
You're just telling the cancer, "Do whatever you please."

So we'll be the villains, a threat to the state,
For showing up early to your party of hate. 
Funny how 'anti-fascist' is the name of a crime,
While you're quoting the villains of a different time. 
Call us monsters, we will bear witness.
Guess the good guys in black are bad for business.