Democracy

It's the age of the CV Contract to contract And my stress levels rise This is my job for life (There are no jobs for life) I am forced to a decision I am forced to the other side I can see a way out of here I can see a way out of here With the hours that we kill And the dreams that we hide Of alternative lifestyles This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love Placards of prophets And great leaders of men Personality cults All over again (But) we'll build shrines for our loved ones We'll burn fires and lights And we'll talk of the old ways To find new ways that might... ...they just might With the hours that we kill And the dreams that we hide Of alternative lifestyles This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love In the villages and hills On the tundra and ice To the forests of kauri In the paddies of rice By the lakes on the plains To the great mountain range Love the land and its people I can see a way out I can see a way out With the hours that we kill And the dreams that we hide Of alternative lifestyles This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love This savage freedom I love

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

You have a choice, we are your voice Red, blue or yellow We will ridicule the green Another five lane motorway You'll never even get a referendum anyway Funny handshakes, insider dealings Et in Arcadia, Arcadia ego Backhanders and salamanders A powerhouse that is morally Mechula Sorry, democracy is changing Sorry, democracy is changing I'm not a slogan or a badge Or a cross in the ballot box Neither values or objectives You do not represent my deepest thoughts and wishes Education in obsolete skills Stereotyping and media projection Industrial psychologists Plan a campaign that is financed by big business Sorry, democracy is changing Sorry, democracy is changing Sorry, democracy is changing Sorry, democracy is changing You have a choice, we are your voice Red, blue or yellow We will ridicule the green Another five lane motorway You'll never even get a referendum anyway Sorry, democracy is changing Sorry, democracy is changing I'm sorry, democracy is changing I'm sorry, democracy is changing

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

I woke up in the darkness and I tried to see the clock It was four AM I was curled up in a fetus and my muscles were stretched taut I was shaken I couldn't face the burdens of another week of worry I was broken I took a green and yellow pill, washed down with filter coffee 'Til it kicked in Get me out Keep me up Level me out Keep me up I was isolated by the way I thought and felt They saw my mood swings I traveled down the longitude of opposite emotions I bipolar In the north they saw my upside, my excitable and optimistic spirit In the south they saw my anger and my tears and my despair They saw my mood swings Get me out Keep me up Level me out Keep me up I was one of the Prozac people I was one of the Prozac people Don't monitor this guinea pig for research any more I will try again Pharmaceutical conglomerates just count me as a unit For their product Identify the enemy, remove the source of fear Start to change my life It's a false state of elation You can join the Prozac nation If you want to Get me out Keep me up Level me out Keep me up I was one of the Prozac people I was one of the Prozac people I was one of the Prozac people I was one of the Prozac people I was one of the Prozac people I was one of the Prozac people I was one of the Prozac people I was one of the Prozac people

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Equinox sun Summers of fun No mortgage repayments To weigh on my mind And if it all fell through tomorrow Put my pack on my back And it's home where the lunatics roam Faith, faith moved a mountain Where the rivers are so clean And the consciousness so green And the luminous folk shine like Lanterns of hope (shine on) Lanterns of hope (shine on) Lanterns of hope Ribbons of wishes, tied to the trees Hives full of honey, yield to the seed And if it all fell through tomorrow Put my pack on my back And it's home where the lunatics roam Faith, faith moved a mountain Where the rivers are so clean And the consciousness is so green And the luminous folk shine like Lanterns of hope (shine on) Lanterns of hope (shine on) Lanterns of hope (shine on) Lanterns of hope (shine on) Lanterns of hope And if it all fell through tomorrow Put my pack on my back And it's home where the lunatics roam Faith, faith moved a mountain Where the rivers are so clean And the consciousness is so green And the luminous folk shine like Lanterns of hope (shine on) Lanterns of hope (shine on) Lanterns of hope Fire Fire light the lantern When we drink from the streams And we grow our own greens And the fences have all been torn down (Shine on) Lanterns of hope (Shine on) Lanterns of hope (Shine on) Lanterns of hope (Shine on) Lanterns of hope (Shine on) Lanterns of hope (Shine on) Lanterns of hope (Shine on) Lanterns of hope (Shine on) Lanterns of hope

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Denominations of a thousand different deities Congregations, endless carnivals of gaiety Why should I fear? Why should I cling on to anything? It's not how long I live but how beautiful it is And I saw crying There was turmoil in the marketplace I saw economies perpetuate the next arms race And I felt helpless and there was nothing I could do or say And then I noticed there's a change That's coming over me Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon Myriad experiences of billions of humans Recorded in the memory, the compassion of their god Beauty defined by disfigurement and symmetry Re-evaluate the history and reassess the symbols And I saw crying There was turmoil in the marketplace I saw economies perpetuate the next arms race And I felt helpless and there was nothing I could do or say And then I noticed there's a change That's coming over me Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon Balance of the eco-system Self-reliance beckons us Windmills and waterwheels, strawberries and lily ponds When skyscrapers no longer block the sun's meridian When we awake to the whisper of the voice Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon Tapping into the aeon

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

My values altered I was looking for peace And I was tired in the lands of the west I had to get out I took a map, I let the pendulum swing I left a note, took my prayer mat and left On a prayer and a wing And every moment of my life I dedicate to you And when I fear of falling I am in your hands Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Through the archway in the city of light The procession began I heard their praises rise like incense to heaven I'd awoken from a long time ago I fell down to my knees I kissed the ground then I started to cry And every moment of my life I dedicate to you And when I fear of falling I am in your hands Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage So wonderful So wonderful So wonderful So wonderful So wonderful So wonderful So wonderful So wonderful So wonderful I saw the merchants selling saffron and spice I felt acceptance for the fate of my life I was thirsty then I came to a spring I had to have faith I was hungry, you sent a stranger to me She shared out her food And every moment of my life I dedicate to you And when I fear of falling I am in your hands And every moment of my life I give it all to you And when I fear of falling I am in your hands Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Pilgrimage

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Gold rimmed glasses hypnotize Acts of love are analyzed Rites of passage rationalized Reason then gives birth to lies Don't pull me, don't pull me Don't pull me down Don't pull me, don't pull me Don't pull me down A dog doesn't question why he barks Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my The mind creates monstrosities Paradise makes the opposite Constitutions of my heart A clear conscience all I need Don't pull me, don't pull me Don't pull me down Don't pull me, don't pull me Don't pull me down A dog doesn't question why he barks Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my To feel and cry, to move and run To laugh at hate and overcome To laugh at fate and go as one I am happy in this state Don't pull me, don't pull me Don't pull me down Don't pull me, don't pull me Don't pull me down A dog doesn't question why he barks Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye Kiss my intellect goodbye

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

She walks up by the path Into the mountain side Sedona red the landscape An offering for her life She starts to rub her red clay Across her fair white skin She starts to dance and play She plays a drum and sings She builds a medicine wheel She builds a medicine wheel She builds a medicine wheel She builds a medicine wheel He studies physics there An undergraduate But in the coffee shop He talks of Gaia's love He talks of Gaia's love He talks of Gaia's love He speaks out how he feels He turns the medicine wheel He builds a medicine wheel He builds a medicine wheel He builds a medicine wheel He builds a medicine wheel We build a medicine wheel She builds a medicine wheel He builds a medicine wheel We build a medicine wheel I...am so grateful I...am so grateful I...am so grateful I...am so grateful He wields a band of fire Fulfill his heart's desire And how the wolves they bay He hears a brand new day With reverence he plays his song Stone by stone he carries on Following some high ideal He turns the medicine wheel He turns a medicine wheel He builds a medicine wheel She builds a medicine wheel We build a medicine wheel He builds a medicine wheel She builds a medicine wheel We build a medicine wheel We build a medicine wheel I...am so grateful I...am so grateful I...am so grateful I...am so grateful I...am so grateful I...am so grateful I...am so grateful I...am so grateful

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

I remember the sun beating down across my back The taste of olives and pleasures that you taught me And we broke bread and then we drank cheap white wine Memories of happiness frozen for all time I hear you crying in my heart Absent friends shall live by love Remember places of my past Absent friends shall live by love And the dead shall live again And absent friends shall live by Love... love... love... love And I remember laughing so much we cried You knew my every thought, there was nothing I could hide We celebrated moons, we marvelled at the night sky With flute and drum and pen, we were grateful for our lives I hear you crying in my heart Absent friends shall live by love Remember places of my past Absent friends shall live by love And the dead shall live again And absent friends shall live by Love... love... love... love I hear you crying in my heart Absent friends shall live by love Remember places of my past Absent friends shall live by love And the dead shall live again And absent friends shall live by Love... love... love... love Love... love... love... love

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026

Rosettes and campaign trails False gestures, too much make-up Elected to serve the public How did you make your fortune? I love your cheesey smile Please will you kiss my baby? More cars and endless car parks Planning permission granted Another bloody election Another bloody election Cover-ups, official statements Digest my gospel headlines Marilyn committed suicide Some nut blew JFK away Mr. Murdoch cares for orphans McDonalds goes eco-friendly I'm cynical of you There's millions like me too Another bloody election Another bloody election Another bloody election Another bloody erection Another bloody election Another bloody election Another bloody election Another bloody erection

Submitted by johnmansley — Feb 23, 2026