When the Towers Came Down
A century begins
A millennium too
Filled with hope
Of a world renewed
The Cold War long over
Conflicts end
Peace on Earth
Goodwill between men
War no longer
Seemed the choice
Iraq and Serbia
Brought no rejoice
Then the Towers came down
Then the Towers came down
And the Empire is born again
A shock to the system
Shock to the heart
Pillars of strength
Crumble apart
As the Towers came down
As the Towers came down
The cry to war
Is readily received
Far of enemies
Easily perceived
And love or hate them
At this times like these
Aren’t our politicians to be believed?
When the Towers came down
When the Towers came down
So off we go marching
To Afghanistan
To get Bin Laden
That’s the plan
We don’t need no deal
With the Taliban
But somehow — he escapes
To Pakistan
And wouldn’t you know it…
He’s in league with Saddam
The Empire had to make the most
Of the Towers coming down
Back at home
Security was tightened
Liberties be damned
When people are frightened
The population surveilled
Detention without trial
Torture and assasination
Are the new style
Then before we know it
Iraq in our sights
The war on terror
Grows wings — takes flight
Because the Towers came down
What a gift to Empire
When the Towers came down
Few dared question
The state’s stated script
But a few girls from Jersey
Wouldn’t remain tight lipped
Demanding an investigation
Into what went so wrong
And not just one
Singing the establishment song
Why did the Towers come down?
How did the Towers come down?
The CIA
Did not explain
Why al-Hazmi and Miḥḍār
Got on that plane
The NSA
Were asked nothing at all
About the intercepts
Of Al Hada’s phone calls
The DIA
Had Able Danger
But no one heard
From Colonel Schaffer
The FBI
Cried civil rights
They couldn’t open Moussaoui’s laptop
They’re whiter than white
And so the Towers came down
And so the Towers came down
The Saudis certainly
Were not asked
Why they’d funded
Part of the task
Condi said
She couldn’t conceive
Planes as weapons
It’s too hard to believe
General Eberhart
Could not get straight
What time his planes
Got out the gate
George refused
To take the stand
Without Dick there
To hold his hand
(And then only in private and off the record)
Edmonds, Linduer
Binney and Wright
All these people
Kept out of sight
And so we don’t know
We don’t know
Why the Towers came down
We’ll never know
Why the Towers came down
Rupert warned
We’d crossed the Rubicon
Scott described
The road forlorn
Speculation has mounted
Since the fateful day
Who was really to blame
Did the culprits get away?
Was Bush the architect?
An inside job?
Has conspiracy helped
Or clouded in fog?
For the Towers coming down
For the Towers coming down
In time…
Al Qaeda resumed
Being Empire’s best friend
In Libya and Syria
They made amends
Now twenty years on
A new world has begun
An order of Covid
New lies being spun
The Empire creates myths
Upon which to feed
To centralise power
And service greed
One day the Towers
Will slip out of memory
A new generation
Sent to fight different enemies
And so the Towers
Will pass into history
With what really happened
Forever a mystery
But many awakened
Saw the world through different eyes
The Empire unmasked
Absent disguise
More than two Towers fell down that day
A third building yes
But —
In another way
Towers of thought
Towers of perception
Came tumbling down
As we saw through deception
As our Towers fell down
A new world appeared
As our Towers fell down
A resistance began
Millions radicalised
The internet helped
Exposing the lies
Taking to microphones
A string of new sleuths
Asking the questions
Pressing for truth
New Towers take shape
The Empire’s — and ours
Fight for their place
With unequal power
Yet truth can only
Be on one side
It’s a weapon the Empire
Is forever denied
So the fight goes on
To expose this crime
Like Cheney’s war of terror
It won’t end in our lifetime
Now the Towers are down
Now our Towers are down
A new world emerges
Now our Towers are down
