Not Born Yesterday (Trip Hop)

Based on the book: Not Born Yesterday by Hugo Mercier. Lyrics: [Intro] Not born yesterday, no Streetlight doctor, white card glow “dire need of twenty euros” I let the cold lie hold me close How stupid was I? How ironic that I’d write the night Saying the crowd ain’t sleepwalking blind No, we’re not born yesterday [Verse] They say we’re sheep in the market haze “blindly obeying authority” Eyes on the lines, eyes on the stage Turn from “reality and truth” so easily Athens in smoke, Cleon in the square Children chasing miracles into the air Xhosa ash where the cattle were Comet Ping Pong, a basement that wasn’t there Look at the static, TV snow Pamphlets, feeds, radio All that “gibberish” people hold Makes the old dark myth feel gold That minds just bend, that wills just break That all it takes is a louder snake [Hook] But it’s not that simple We don’t just drink what we’re given There’s a blade in the signal A doubt that keeps on living Open, but vigilant Open, but vigilant “Who to trust” and “what to believe” That’s the rhythm underneath [Instrumental] [Instrumental] [Verse] Cells in a body got one heartbeat Bees in a hive got one queen’s dream But human mouths got mixed-up motives Honey and poison in the same stream Even “a pregnant mother has reasons to mistrust” The chemistry, the hush, the hidden tug of blood So we built little filters in the dark Little guards around the spark Does it fit what I know? Does it ring, does it show? Is the source in the light? Will the story survive the night? “open vigilance mechanisms” yeah, that’s the code in the system [Pre-Chorus] Not gullible, no Not made to just go with the flow Too much to lose in a crooked exchange So the mind learned how to listen strange [Chorus] We are skilled at “figuring out who to trust” And “what to believe” before we give up If anything, we’re harder than soft Too suspicious, cutting good things off Open, but vigilant Open, but vigilant The message rises, the knives come out We test the beat, we test the mouth [Verse] You point at the earth, say flat Some part of me knows why that lands You say all my ancestors looked like me Not fish, not fins, just hands The intuitive lie wears the cleanest clothes Comes in through the door everybody knows But the wild ones? Teleport kings, ice walls at the edge They sit like smoke on a nominal ledge I bet a flat-earther would stop and stare At that “two-hundred-foot wall of ice” out there And Kim Jong-il “Star Trek–style”? Even his choir would lose their smile [Bridge] So why profess what you don’t deeply hold? To impress, annoy, seduce, control To please a room, to join a side To wear implausible like a badge of pride Not why they accept it Why they repeat it Why the tongue can house a thing The hands won’t ever really meet with Besides wanting “to share what we take to be accurate views” There are a thousand little social uses “to impress, annoy, please, seduce, manipulate, reassure” Truth gets blurred when belonging feels pure [Drop] [Drop] [Verse] Demagogues swing, advertisers preach Campaign tricks can barely reach “Nearly always fail miserably” That’s the secret under the speech The “all-powerful” machine ain’t all-powerful Couldn’t make Germans like the Nazis, no Flyers, robocalls, slogans, fear Most attempts disappear Because a mind ain’t an empty room It’s crowded with prior weather, private doom And if you want in, bring more than noise Bring reasons, trust, and better choices [Outro] So I still see that respectable face Hear “my secretary would wire the money back” Still feel the sting, the little disgrace Still walk that night like a broken fact But listen— The lesson wasn’t that minds are weak It was that lies can borrow what trust we keep And this whole book in a low-lit sway Keeps whispering through the static gray: “We don’t credulously accept whatever we’re told” No, not most days Not the way they say And if you take one thing from me “please, don’t just take my word for it” No Don’t just take my word for it