The Gas Man Cometh Lyrics - 12 Crass Songs - Jeffrey Lewis

What will you do when the gastaps turn? 

Where will you be when the bodies burn? 

Will you just watch as the cattle trucks roll by? 

Pretend it isn't happening? 

Turn a blind eye? 

See the army convoys quietly passing by? 

Heard the helicopters in your little bit of sky? 

Have you seen the squad cars packed with boys in blue? 

Have you ever wondered what they're there to do? 

The ashes at Auschwitz are just a small leap. 

When power is threatened, life is cheap. 

Don't think that they won't do it, 

'Cuz they always do. 

But this time around, the pawns are me and you. 

Pictures in the paper of soldiers in the street. 

Pictures in the history books of rotting human meat. 

Auschwitz now a tourist spot for the cockle-eye to pry. 

Still in working order for you and I. 

Photos of the victims of gas of gun and bomb. 

Inheritance of violence in the bookshelves of your home. 

Don't wait for it to come to you, 

'cuz it surely will. 

The guardians of the state are trained 

to search, destroy and kill. 

The ashes at Auschwitz are just a small leap. 

When power is threatened, life is cheap. 

Don't think that they won't do it, 

'Cuz they already do. 

But this time around, the pawns are me and you. 

There's people sitting at this moment. 

their fingers on the trigger. 

There's loyalty and royalty to make their violence figure. 

Allegiance to the flag they say as they lock the prison door 

Allegiance to normality is what lobotomies are for. 

God, queen and country, they say we've got the choice. 

Free speech for all, if you've got no voice. 

Propaganda on the airwaves, here's the way to live. 

Not for you and me, the alternative. 

They look for peace in Iraq with 10,000 squady boys. 

Torture in their prisons and their other ploys. 

They'll keep us all in line and they'll keep us on our toes. 

But if we stand against their power see how violence grows. 

Read it in the paper about rebellious youth, 

but it's them that are so violent, it's them that hide the truth. 

Stay in line, or pay the cost. 

Do you think they care, when another life's lost? 

The ashes at Auschwitz are just a small leap. 

When power is threatened, life is cheap. 

Don't think that they won't do it, 

'Cuz they already do. 

But this time around, the pawns are me and you.