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Blow, Whistleblower, Blow!

from Poor Thing by Sam Steffen

/

lyrics

'Corruption in the Whitehouse' the headline ran in ‘72
When Nixon’s men broke in to the DNC HQ
If Deepthroat hadn’t telephoned his buddies, Carl and Bob
Nixon probably never would have turned over his job—so

Blow the whistle!—whistleblower, blow!
Let’s see you got a conscience that you ain’t afraid to show!
Put your self-interest behind you, tell your bosses where to go!—
the people have got the right to know!

Chelsea Manning was a soldier sent to Iraq on intel
Where civilians and soldiers were bein indiscriminately killed
She had access to top secret files that were under lock-and-key
She put em on a website for all the world to see
chorus

Well, all our data’s now the property of the US government
the NSA’s been getting it for years without consent
A man named Edward Snowden said “I’ve had enough of this!”
Sent what he knew discreetly to the international press
chorus

Today we got old Donald Trump to keep us entertained
“Will you look into Joe Biden?” he asked the president of Ukraine
He would’ve been impeached when someone brought the news to light—
If a few Senate Republicans had the nerve to do what’s right!
chorus

Now some will say a whistleblower’s nothin but a liar
A stoolie turned a turncoat who knew he’d be getting fired
If you were in the same boat—tell me, what would you do?
And if you knew and kept it secret—well, what would that make you?
chorus

I thank you, Mr. Snowden for all the risk you took—
And you, Ms. Chelsea Manning, you’re no traitor in my book
You face the blacklist, exile, prison, and you were slandered in the news
But I thank you for the sacrifice you’ve made to tell the truth
chorus

technology today is more advanced than it’s alleged
but it’s a tool that can be weaponized, a blade that’s double edged
the government says they spy on us to keep us all Red, White and Blue
But if you’re gonna keep your eyes on us, we’ll keep our eyes on you!
chorus

credits

from Poor Thing, released July 24, 2022

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Sam Steffen Boise, Idaho

Sam Steffen is a Pennsylvania-bred, Boise-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation of folk music that has learned from the best stuff in the tradition and aims in spite of everything to keep the human spirit alive and kicking. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one. ... more

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