Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
BJZM Productions Presents:
XYZ's debut EP: JinWen (Censored News)
Lyrics by XYZ
Produced by afbcRuben
Still Martial Law
When I first began rapping, I thought of rap as
a means of free expression, and that I didn't have to pretend to be
someone who I was not; I thought I could be me.
I just wanted to express myself without thinking of life or death.
Apparently, pointing out the flaws of society means that I'm an unpatriotic traitor.
They consider me as a nuisance and don't want to listen.
I often hear people say that I overthink things
and because I'm from abroad, people treat me as a foreign aggression.
People would rather tune in to celebrity gossip
than question the status quo that could always be improved.
They think that wasting their energy will not change things in the end
and that everything in the world is predestined.
The silence of the people will not bring about any changes.
The happiness found when escaping reality is fake.
The idea of "ignorance is bliss" is beyond naïve.
Ignoring reality does not mean that it is not occurring.
"Harmony above all" comes at a great price
and is the killer of independent thought, which seems to be criminalized.
Are they machines, bloodsuckers, or humans?
Or have they already become slaves to society,
married to censorship with offspring
deprived of self-consciousness.
The people suppress their own awareness to prevent social turbulence.
Does life have a meaning, or is everything just a formality?
Freedom of speech is written in the law, but society oppresses it.
One is criticized for even slightly deviating from the norm
and becomes a public enemy, with no right to express
different views out of fear of the people's secret police.
While everyone sees things as flawless,
self-consoling and refusing to face reality,
I see a society that is hiding its self-pity.
"The problem lies within others; how could I be wrong?"
Deceiving oneself to the point where even satan can be a god;
worse than North Koreans believing in a god named Kim Il-Sung.
The latter was brainwashed while the previous is apathetic -
a waste of freedom of speech, self respect, and life.
Many people don't care about the world's misfortunes
and would rather victimize, take pity on, and doubt themselves.
They've lost their judgement while hallucinating.
All is an endless cycle.
"Harmony above all" comes at a great price
and is the killer of independent thought, which seems to be criminalized.
Are they machines, bloodsuckers, or humans?
Or have they already become slaves to society,
married to censorship with offspring
deprived of self-consciousness.
The people suppress their own awareness to prevent social turbulence.
Does life have a meaning, or is everything just a formality?
Perhaps thinking the same way as others brings to many a sense of security.
When an authoritarian government is failing, it can only rely on propaganda
to rewrite the thoughts in people's heads.
Intoxicated, silent - the illusion is forever.
As people's outlooks on life assimilate, they begin to treat life as a fairy tale.
Hence world peace will forever be nothing but a dream.
"Why should we worry about things that don't directly affect us?"
Perhaps being nuked is the only thing that will wake people up.
Man is the master of his own destiny,
So don't let others dictate your every thought or move.
1984, "Big Brother," Brave New World.
Personality, awareness, and the right to think are all lost.
Society's ability to think has long been in hibernation;
Buildings and skyscrapers conceal the desolations of society.
The world that some young people see might be nightclubs,
but the world that I see is still under martial law.
"Harmony above all" comes at a great price
and is the killer of independent thought, which seems to be criminalized.
Are they machines, bloodsuckers, or humans?
Or have they already become slaves to society,
married to censorship with offspring
deprived of self-consciousness.
The people suppress their own awareness to prevent social turbulence.
Does life have a meaning, or is everything just a formality?
"Still Martial Law" is a reference to Taiwan's authoritarian past.
It is now a democracy with freedom of speech, however there is still a sense of oppression -
oppression of the people, by the people, for the people.