文本歌词

The prison system
Inherently unjust and inhumane
Is the ultimate expression of injustice
And inhumanity in the society at large
Those of us on the outside do not like
To think of wardens and guards
As our surrogates yet they are
And they are intimately
Locked in a deadly embrace
With their human captives
Behind prison walls
By extension so are we
The terrible double
Meaning is thus imparted
To the original question of human ethics
Am I my brother's keeper
The second of February 1980
Began three days of misery
A scene of retaliation
Epitomizing violence
Horror and vindication
Thieves murderers and rapists
Inundated their prison
Like homicidal sadists
Guards and convicts alike
Would pay the price
To them the electric chair
Would look like paradise
Only degradation torture
And cremation would suffice
A sea of agony rolled in like
The coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped
The insanity through suicide
The screams of the dying would
Haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot relive
The nightmare every day
The last act of defiance
With a never-ending appetite
Barbiturates set them off like dynamite
Eradicating informants
Acetylene torches dealt the punishment
Melted from skin to bone
The fire silenced their screams to moans
Smoke filled the air from bodies set aflame
Begging for mercy
But their words were spoken in vain
They weren't allowed
To perish until they cherished all the pain
A sea of agony rolled in like
The coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped
The insanity through suicide
The screams of the dying would
Haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot relive
The nightmare every day
The last act of defiance
The last act of defiance
Guards they had taken hostage
Were to blame for
Pushing them over the edge
Their brutality would be their demise
Like sharks in a frenzy
They lashed out at their prize
When the madness had ended
The gore was too
Intense to be comprehended
No one explained the real reason why
For cruelty of a few so many should die
They knew of the flaws
But still insist the 'cause was justified
A sea of agony rolled in like
The coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped
The insanity through suicide
The screams of the dying would
Haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot relive
The nightmare every day
The last act of defiance
The last act of defiance