Send in the rats to guard the cheese
protect the necks of sanctioned thieves
another death, another coward
who’s on the clock but off the record
Rough Ride. Slave.
alibis, fast as you can dig the graves
if the fires have to burn all your festering cities half way to the ground
for every one, every dead mother’s son -
then I guess it’s all coming down
because nothing’s left to dignify this excessive farce
for another business quarter or election year
born on the downside of an invisible cage.
death in custody. broken neck of a world in chains.
like it’s an incident and not a system
of the deputized and their excusers
you are collateral
it was acceptable
no lives matter now
cut you down.

---

This song was written in Spring of 2015 in the wake of the murder of Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore Police (all 6 of whom were ultimately exonerated). As the epidemic worsened, we released this song early after the 2016 police slayings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille , with the following statement:

"We had reservations about posting this, not wanting it to come off as insensitive, opportune or self-serving (“Fuck this tragedy and here's a song dealing with it, Preorder Here!”) but at the same time, really wanting to post it, and right now. This is how we honestly feel, and the epitome of what this music still represents for us. It’s how we share grief and anger over such horrors, how we vent and process them personally and contribute to the greater dialogue about it publicly; we form our words and songs into a scream and let it out to join the others. So: We're putting this song up early in light of the rising death toll in one of the worst mass murders in modern western history, to help sustain the conversation and if nothing else to offer support, condolences and solidarity from our corner of the world. We stand with all victims of systematic violence, abuse and deliberate oppression.

“Abuse of Power Comes As No Surprise” - Jenny Holzer"