about
This song was inspired by the Singapore national day celebrations in 2009.What hit me was how during the whole time I was in Singapore,complaints about the country and the government by the locals were heard more often than the latest radio hit the stations were bribed to play.Despite their dissatisfactions,however,somehow every year the celebrations were attended by a local cheering crowd in the thousands.
Ticketed crowd bribery aside,it seemed that people cared more about the celebrations than what they were celebrating about.Huge sums of local and foreign corporate sponsorships were pumped into the spectacles that seemed desperately trying to spice up the numbing essence of being an independent nation,in a country where the tallest buildings are mostly tower offices of foreign companies.
This observation compared to and combined with my bias against the ruling government propaganda in my own country,Malaysia,were penned down days before Malaysia's independence day,with the chorus lifted straight from one of my pocket rhyme books I scribbled the year before,written on a beat by Blueprint which i later asked my old online forum colleague Sazz to recreate something similar
lyrics
(chorus)
Independence is a noose of foreign pendants
They pen dances so we’d stop being defensive
And stay blind to these thorns we’re stepping on
Couldn’t fathom the past,guess it’s out of fashion
(verse 1)
Strokes of heartache spark great visual plays
And you will stay with spectacles on for the spectacle display
This play of fire works simply by live firing-
Your tiring days away as your eyes desire it
To be one with the span of the fiery skies
Spirals that fly through retinas, getting your blind attention
And then sends you to a reckless chase
To pan around it for the best panoramic viewing place to fully embrace it
The space is occupied with clouds of shooting stars
The pace intensified with rounds that spews out starting points-
For a night worth documenting in any form
Represent repackaged gift of this frantic storm
Many arms stretch in a friendly warmth length
Salute to all strengths that have been gone long since
Salute to old men that died in war scents
Salute to false statements by statesmen who preach us nonsense
Salute to his stories of this gory past he calls hardship
Partial accounts kicking back logs of lost bliss
Long kiss goodbyes by good times gone for good
Redefined like elements for peace forcefully would
Of course the discourse of this course of distorted-
Recollections of bridges crossed would be tossed in flames
They put on a display,lip gloss hiding crooked tongues
I’m here for the fireworks,gone when it’s done
(chorus x2)
Independence is a noose of foreign pendants
They pen dances so we’d stop being defensive
And stay blind to these thorns we’re stepping on
Couldn’t fathom the past,guess it’s out of fashion
(verse 2)
Morning sun sobers up the knights
Face the ground, they recall their failed attempts of flight
Stuck in the nest of fancy magic sticks and stones-
Utilized only when the trunk grows another branch older
Hands holding tight, the string of noose broadly casted-
In the shape of forgotten pasts slowly passing
Generations disconnect,the parents are restless
While foreign investments of youth culture goes uncontested
Tried and tested lies are etched in templates-
Of the speech that hits the heart at the speed of hate
Elected Gods,doing jobs of being the symbol-
Of a system that governs your window of hope
Learn the ropes,make your way up to your own stand
Reach out to exploding stars the moment you grow hands-
To write your own destination on your tickets
Coz the flying colors have failed to inspire the little kids
(chorus)
Independence is a noose of foreign pendants
They pen dances so we’d stop being defensive
And stay blind to these thorns we’re stepping on
Couldn’t fathom the past,guess it’s out of fashion
credits
from
The Rap Gladiator Mixtape,
released August 31, 2010
Performed by Dafrosty
Lyrics by Dafrosty
Music by Sazz The Villain
Recorded by Suhairil Izham Suroya at Kashfy Studio
license
