The Manifesto by Adam The Rapper Lyrics
[Intro]
Time to tackle something a little bigger
Guys, what you saying?
[Verse 1]
My manifesto's buried at the end of the garden
A shoe box full of perishing parchment
I cling tight to the dreams that I still harbour
Til I hear the shrill bark of the drill sergeant
I march in expensive boots
But I'm marching to somebody else's tune
Still I pay the piper in plain dollars
Pile my pape's while I try to remain conscious
Another number on the pay-roll
Brain-trained from the strain of the same-old-same-old
But when I get my chain swoll
Then I'm going AWOL from you A-holes
On a quest for my piece of mind
Until then, I'mma give you all a piece of mine
Fuck the internet, and fuck TV
My free speech is knee-deep in faeces
Next levels of horror
Where the crest on your chest is a medal of honour
Repeat the news but don't dare speak the truth
They got us hanging from a neon noose
They sell it, we buy it, it's mostly horse shit
The funds go to forces to go start wars with
We get bored so we go buy more shit
That all ends up in the ground with our corpses
What a beautiful lie
Exhaust the fuel supply til there's no more blue in the sky
We gotta keep 'em in check
Rally the troops man, I'll put an Arab Spring in their step
Cos it's about time times changed
Bars rattle on the cage of my mind's frame
And when it's time I'm [?]
My manifesto ready for the day we ditch the dirt
[Verse 2]
My manifesto sits in a battered notepad
On a sheet from my life that I grasp with both hands
Ink-stained passion in a backwards old land
Keep the fire burning where the haggard folks stand
Three square meals for your malnourished masses
Every menu that's present is stagnant or plastic
We present a splendid banquet for your pallet
Ample calories for the ravenous and famished
Keep my belly filled with a thirst for fascination
Retail's irrelevant, you can't purchase amazement
Strive for the riches not earned with the wages
A swollen bank roll don't determine my status
Carving a niche with my plough in the dirt
Seeds from my furrowed brow flower in the earth
Take root in the underground, now we emerge
Spoonful of wonderful powering the nerves
Billboard remedies filled with empty promise
March past the paving slabs flecked with the vomit
Plasticine landscape invested with profit
Grayshaded and grim, can't pretend that I want it
Paint the world with my rainbow, splash in the puddles
Dance in a thunderstorm, laugh off your troubles
Cast off yesterday's panic and greed
There's a cabinet of wonders, just ask for the key
[Verse 3]
Yo, I march pavements
Uniform charity shop-bought 'cos of sweat shops and child labour
Getting more fat and more rich off my paper
No weapons on show for the moment
Milk-top medals all spark in the sunlight
Got a blank flag wedged in belt
And I still been hitched to my hip for the drum time
Manifesto tied on my back so I turn another cheek and I still touch numb minds
I'll sun you or shun you
You'll get it if you read
But I can summarise in one line
The meek shall inherit the earth
So you'd better watch out for them quiet ones
Got a steel-toed boot, it's the right one
For any TV screen that is seen on my route
Knees swing, [?] bring truth
And inky black fingers from hours on the tube
I leave their signs stained
Or up go the blinkers, 'cos I ain't letting them in my brain
It's about time times changed
Landslide and the wave brewing down here's tidal
I sound off in silence, march head high with my mind on the signs and the cycles
Time to tackle something a little bigger
Guys, what you saying?
[Verse 1]
My manifesto's buried at the end of the garden
A shoe box full of perishing parchment
I cling tight to the dreams that I still harbour
Til I hear the shrill bark of the drill sergeant
I march in expensive boots
But I'm marching to somebody else's tune
Still I pay the piper in plain dollars
Pile my pape's while I try to remain conscious
Another number on the pay-roll
Brain-trained from the strain of the same-old-same-old
But when I get my chain swoll
Then I'm going AWOL from you A-holes
On a quest for my piece of mind
Until then, I'mma give you all a piece of mine
Fuck the internet, and fuck TV
My free speech is knee-deep in faeces
Next levels of horror
Where the crest on your chest is a medal of honour
Repeat the news but don't dare speak the truth
They got us hanging from a neon noose
They sell it, we buy it, it's mostly horse shit
The funds go to forces to go start wars with
We get bored so we go buy more shit
That all ends up in the ground with our corpses
What a beautiful lie
Exhaust the fuel supply til there's no more blue in the sky
We gotta keep 'em in check
Rally the troops man, I'll put an Arab Spring in their step
Cos it's about time times changed
Bars rattle on the cage of my mind's frame
And when it's time I'm [?]
My manifesto ready for the day we ditch the dirt
[Verse 2]
My manifesto sits in a battered notepad
On a sheet from my life that I grasp with both hands
Ink-stained passion in a backwards old land
Keep the fire burning where the haggard folks stand
Three square meals for your malnourished masses
Every menu that's present is stagnant or plastic
We present a splendid banquet for your pallet
Ample calories for the ravenous and famished
Keep my belly filled with a thirst for fascination
Retail's irrelevant, you can't purchase amazement
Strive for the riches not earned with the wages
A swollen bank roll don't determine my status
Carving a niche with my plough in the dirt
Seeds from my furrowed brow flower in the earth
Take root in the underground, now we emerge
Spoonful of wonderful powering the nerves
Billboard remedies filled with empty promise
March past the paving slabs flecked with the vomit
Plasticine landscape invested with profit
Grayshaded and grim, can't pretend that I want it
Paint the world with my rainbow, splash in the puddles
Dance in a thunderstorm, laugh off your troubles
Cast off yesterday's panic and greed
There's a cabinet of wonders, just ask for the key
[Verse 3]
Yo, I march pavements
Uniform charity shop-bought 'cos of sweat shops and child labour
Getting more fat and more rich off my paper
No weapons on show for the moment
Milk-top medals all spark in the sunlight
Got a blank flag wedged in belt
And I still been hitched to my hip for the drum time
Manifesto tied on my back so I turn another cheek and I still touch numb minds
I'll sun you or shun you
You'll get it if you read
But I can summarise in one line
The meek shall inherit the earth
So you'd better watch out for them quiet ones
Got a steel-toed boot, it's the right one
For any TV screen that is seen on my route
Knees swing, [?] bring truth
And inky black fingers from hours on the tube
I leave their signs stained
Or up go the blinkers, 'cos I ain't letting them in my brain
It's about time times changed
Landslide and the wave brewing down here's tidal
I sound off in silence, march head high with my mind on the signs and the cycles