Pabulum

There's always someone
Who wants to be offended
There's always someone
Who just won't get the joke
What matters more to me
Is the intention
Not everyone pretending to be woke

It might be me
But sometimes I feel like
I can't keep up
With all the stuff
That I'm not supposed to say
Freedom of speech cuts both ways
But the concept slipped away
And now the dictionary
Gets smaller every day

I don't wanna be beige
I don't wanna be grey
In a world homogenised
Sterilised and safe
Compromised and terrified
In case anything I say
Gets taken out of context
Gets twisted in some way

Life is an empty book
So figure out what to write
Sense or nonsense
Truth or lies
Tear the pages if you like
Watch out for the words you use
Choose the wrong ones
And they'll hang you out to dry

Now we slide towards the thought police
And they take the words away
And when I look around me
They're getting closer every day
Judge me on the things I do
And not the things I say
I want to love all the people
But my misanthropy gets in the way

I don't wanna be beige
I don't wanna be grey
In a world homogenised
Sterilised and safe
Compromised and terrified
In case anything I say
Gets taken out of context
Gets twisted in some way

When the censorship begins
Who's to say where it will end
So quick to take offence
You miss the punch line
You miss the relevance
Let me figure out what it's all about
Let make up my own mind
Treat me like a grown-up
Not wet nursed like a child
Spoon fed on a steady diet
Of uninspiring pap
Childproof harmless pabulum
Inoffensive crap
And now we walk on eggshells
When we're speaking from the heart
For fear of getting cancelled
Before we even start

I don't wanna be beige
I don't wanna be grey
In a world homogenised
Sterilised and safe
Compromised and terrified
In case anything I say
Gets taken out of context
Gets twisted in some way

I'll fill myself with words and colours
Every single day
I'll take my chance with cancel culture
If that's the price I've gotta pay