Possibly the most powerful and compelling moment in the history of social media and arguably the dawn of the period to follow, when the internet would become the vehicle for footage capable of moving the masses. A lone man of immense courage stood in front of a tank, stepping right, stepping left, stepping back, then stepping forward. You shall not pass he cried wordlessly. An individually futile stance against the might of the People's Party, but far from futile in the seeds that were sown.
All my words past, present and future, amount to nothing compared to this. But I had to try, to honour this stance. Tiananmen was a disaster in some respects; however this gesture changed not only China, but the whole world. Not that much perhaps, yet incremental seepage through incredibly thick dam walls eventually leads to floods and maybe 20 years later the flood is upon us. An increasingly strident reaction, which we attempted to reflect in this song, was the proof of the threat this man posed to all those who will not relinquish power. It takes time, but dictators fall.
lyrics
SONG FOR TIANANMEN
The signals went out from the hierachy
We cannot tolerate this challenge to our order
We are heading for pure anarchy
If we go on like this they'll be massing on our border
We have worked so hard for what we have
We won't give it up so easily (oh, no we won't)
We protect them, from all that's bad
We cannot stop, we are what they need
Send the tanks in, break out the tear-gas
Rubber bullets, or real ones if they are needed
The army's loyal, they know their master
They don't mind to see their country-men are bleeding
They don't mind at all, it's part of duty's call
They don't mind at all
Send to me the head of the secret service
He will know which of our enemies to take
We will see then that our law is not perverted
If our headman's wrong I shudder for his sake
Can't they see how futile is their stance
They all know we don't give easily (no we don't)
Can't they see that they don't stand a chance
We cannot stop, we are what they need
Declare emergency, all leave to be cancelled
Tell the newspapers we have nothing to say
Call the generals, I want them gathered
Then they'll know what is the game that they must play
I don't mind at all, it's part of duty's call
I will not fall, I will not fall
I will not fall
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