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Fourth Cell

from The Rebel Cell by Mud Sun

/

lyrics

The Fourth Cell

Such a damn shame
Five years down the road
And we're both exactly the same
You're still on your political campaign

And you're still chasing the champagne

Yeah, well now you're locked down
So I guess things can change
So what's your game plan mate?

I don't plan games
I plan to stay solid on it
I can still fight the revolution
With my ankles chained

So I should write...

That the movement hasn't lost it's father
It's gained a full time writer

And a martyr
You never were as good a finisher
As you were a starter
So now you go from rebel fighting to exercising
In the yard
Making license plates and letter writing

As long as I stay defiant
I stay fighting
As a symbol of the undying heart
Whether or not I'm behind bars
I still remain free
A prison guard can't chain me

That's what pains me
I hate to see you wasting this opportunity
To make your statement plainly

My statement is against the whole foundation
Of this state's edifice
Where the rebel takes the blame
And the rich take the benefits

That's what I'm saying
Can't you see how strange your message is?
If you plead not guilty
You're saying that the justice system is not only corrupt
You're degrading its existence
You're saying it's only in place to protect riches
You're promoting base anarchy at its most vicious
Civil disobedience is an ancient tradition
That goes back to Socrates and Plato
Engaged citizens who respect the rule of law
And want to change it

From within

Yeah
Martin Luther King's civil rights
Ghandi's hunger strikes
Nelson Mandela with apartheid
They were all fighting to shed a harsh light
On the injustice of the laws
Not to burn down the archives
If you plead not guilty
Then you're just another part time rebel
Showing disregard for life by trying to start riots

If I plead guilty I'm admitting committing what's not a crime
If a system is wrong at the root it's not wrong to defy it
And I do degrade the existence of this system of injustice
As much as the worm turns against the boot that crushes it

Some laws are valid

Yeah but this law's so far corrupted
It's just there to keep kings as kings
And us as subjects
And to protect the rich that run it
That's why I'm a dissident
If I plead guilty
I'm rejecting the possibility of something different

And you're rejecting all historical precedent
So the story I write
Is about the wasted potential
Of a glorious fight
But, you're right

These laws are disgusting

Yeah, I just wish you would engage them constructively
Instead of disruptively
But that's just me

And this is just me man
If it's principles at stake
If I'm going down
I'm going with my fists raised
Even if it is just symbolic

Great
We'll get that etched on your grave
And you can tell all your cellmates
That you're symbolic jail bait
Look our politics hit an obvious stale mate
I wanted to salvage a failed state
And you wanted Che's fate
But it's real late in the day to still debate
So I just wanted to say
If you decide to call in your supporters
To organize a voter drive
And get your political base fortified
I'll help you get it sorted
All right?

And in the same way
When you realize a failed state
Is better swept away than renovated
The rebel cells are waiting
And we'll still be making spaces
Where democracy actually happens
Day to day
And philosophy is born as actual action
I think your mind and your passion might help them
Just let me know and I'll make sure you're welcome

Damn
That's my one hour interview finished
In less than two minutes
So much for the rescue mission

Yeah true
Listen
Baba, here's my mom's number
Can you call her?
Tell her I'm sorry I couldn't see her
Say I love her

Of course brother

And Baba
Your article

Yeah?

Just tell it true

Will do

credits

from The Rebel Cell, released August 1, 2008

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about

Baba Brinkman New York, New York

Science rapper and inventor of several novel hip-hop variants. Canadian transplant to New York. Pathological optimist.

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