Dan Bull - WikiLeaks And The Need For Freedom Of Speech

It's been said that the first casualty of war is truth, And I'm inclined to agree. Listen:

We live in an age of instant information
So isn't it strange that things have been hidden away from us
Governments think we need to gain their trust
But it's the other way around, just take a look
Nothing tells us more than raw data does
So it's important it's all available to us
Plus put up for debate
And looked at by the public's gaze
Because there's a lot more to be gained from taking off the ball and the chain
And the blinkers that have been causing us pain in more than one way
Power to the people? We've fallen away from it
There's a formal name for this, it's called a dictatorship
And censorship's not restoring our faith for shit
So let's rip away the red tape and paperclips
It's a shame that it's come to this for freedom of speech
That we need a safe haven for people that leak
But you see, we speak what we seek
And we just seek what we speak, and that's the truth that's keeping us free

The truth will set you free
The truth will set you free

The issue's prickly when it comes to WikiLeaks
Different people see it differently and disagree
Does it pillory the bigotry of ministries of tyranny
Or is it merely hindering the coalition's victory?
It's a mystery to me, but look at history
You'll see that liberty is eager to face up to inquiry
We learnt a heap from Bradley Manning, didn't we?
We saw conspiracy hidden beneath the sheet of anonymity
This military intelligence is giving me the evidence
We really need to step up and declare that we're fed up of it
Why should we trust you when everything that does come through
Shows we shouldn't trust you as far as we could chuck you
Try to silence something, it'll become amplified
Magnified by wires, waves and satellite
We won't be pacified by the fact it's classified
You need a mandate from the people to be ratified
So on their behalf I shall provide this battle cry
To tell the powers that be that we're clearly unsatisfied
And if you ignore my reasonable plea
That's just fine by me, cos all the media's seen
The cause and reason for leaks is more than freedom of speech
It's also people's belief that we all need to be briefed
In order to keep all the peace, we ought to police the police
And that takes much more than just the formal PR release
So all in all you see, we speak what we seek
And we just seek what we speak, it's the truth that's keeping us free

The truth will set you free
The truth will set you free

Should we listen to the whistleblowers? Of course
Even if it'll throw us off course?
Of course, cos if you need to suppress the truth
Then I expect that you've got some regretful news
But it's best that you confess and soon
Before we end up less than destitute
Civilian deaths and executions are routine
While billions are spent on weapon producing
Do you think you can reduce the terror threat
By inflicting terror on an infant that's never witnessed terror yet
Look, if Americans had taken my parents away
I'd never forget my vendetta 'til I'd settled the debt
It'd take more than an open letter to let you know
That what we see's obviously not democracy, it's puppetry
This jungle's burning and we can't see the wood for trees
Sky's keeping us dry, so we need someone to leak
Because you see, we speak what we seek
And we just seek what we speak, it's the truth that's keeping us free

The truth will set you free
The truth will set you free

Thanks to WikiLeaks - one of the most important websites ever, and thanks to everyone who's put their personal safety on the line in order to expose something that they feel needs to be known. The truth will set you free.