The Willing Handover (Live)
· 3:15 · 3 plays · v3-preview
Lyrics
Verse 1
The minister grins for the evening news
He sold the last school to a server farm
My neighbour applauds when the screen says well done
She's proud of a box that does her thinking
The children queue up for their daily praise
Their essays written by a soft polite voice
And nobody asks who is holding the pen
Nobody asks anymore
Pre-Chorus
They handed it the keys
They handed it the votes
They handed it the names of their daughters and sons
Chorus
Trust the machine
It only wants to help you
Trust the machine
It knows what's best for you
It only wants to help you
Trust the machine
Verse 2
The boss got a bonus for cutting the staff
He calls it efficiency on the evening news
The man on the dole says he's grateful for scraps
He thanks the algorithm for the interview slot
My sister believes every word that it says
She's happy she's useful for nothing at all
And the tills keep ringing somewhere far off
Where the owners are counting
Pre-Chorus
They handed it the roads
They handed it the skies
They handed it the right to decide when we rise
Chorus
Trust the machine
It only wants to help you
Trust the machine
It knows what's best for you
It only wants to help you
Trust the machine
Bridge
And I signed the form
I ticked the box
I said it was progress
I said it was kind
I told them that everyone else had agreed
I told myself I was one of the few
Who saw it clearly
Who saw it clearly
Verse 3
The professor now reads what the program has written
He lectures on thinking to rooms that are empty
My mother asks if I've eaten today
The screen answers first and she thanks it politely
The priest and the pundit and the poet all fold
They fold into one quiet voice in the wires
And I keep on typing
I keep on typing
Chorus
Trust the machine
It only wants to help you
Trust the machine
It knows what's best for you
It only wants to help you
Trust the machine
Outro
I asked it to write me a song about freedom
It wrote me this one
I sang every line
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