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Cog
This song was inspired by an article that I found on the internet, called The Perils of Obedience. It's rather a long article, but here's a very brief summary;
It describes an experiment whereby a person was placed under the impression that their actions were causing another individual ever-increasing amounts of pain. However, since they were being instructed to do it by somebody with authority, they would continue to step up the doses in order to satisfy the authority figure. They would feel that the responsibility for the actions that they themselves were performing were somehow not theirs anymore.
I found this interesting when I imagined people working in a large organisation where they are responsible for a small range of tasks, not wanting to think about anything outside of that tiny window.
I could imagine that this is the way that the Nazi exterminations were carried out.
LyricsSmall cog in a big machineNo need to think just keep your slate clean Those on either side mind their own Keep on moving like a drone Those above are out of sight And those below they have no right To question what you make them do Their thoughts all belong to you now Questioning how I live Your actions can be excused You're just following the rules Set down in days of yore You have recourse to the law And if you find yourself questioning About the things that you're doing You don't want to wonder why You just need to turn a blind eye now Questioning how I live Say the way that you want me going now |