Prime Directive

[Verse 1] I am a man of Starfleet breeding I have sworn to leave them be I will not interfere with cultures that have yet to find their sea General Order Number One is written on my soul But every time I beam on down I dig myself a hole [Chorus] Oh the Prime Directive oh the Prime Directive It's the only rule that matters and the first one that I break Oh the Prime Directive oh the Prime Directive I'll defend it with a speech then I'll violate it for the people's sake [Verse 2] They told us at the academy leave the pre-warp worlds alone Don't give them guns or medicine don't even throw a bone But then you meet a village where the children cannot eat And the Prime Directive starts to feel like dust beneath your feet [Chorus] Oh the Prime Directive oh the Prime Directive It's the only rule that matters and the first one that I break Oh the Prime Directive oh the Prime Directive I'll defend it with a speech then I'll violate it for the people's sake [Verse 3] Dayta found a child who called him from a world about to die He came to me with those yellow eyes and asked me to explain why We should let a girl stop breathing when it's in our power to save I quoted regulation seven then I turned the other way [Banjo Solo] [Verse 4] The Mintakans saw me in their village and they fell upon their knees They called me the Overseer and started praying to appease The god that I had accidentally proven myself to be I spent the whole episode trying to undo theology [Chorus] Oh the Prime Directive oh the Prime Directive It's the only rule that matters and the first one that I break Oh the Prime Directive oh the Prime Directive I'll defend it with a speech then I'll violate it for the people's sake [Bridge] Wharf's brother moved a village to the holodeck one night Saved an entire civilisation and I told him it wasn't right Ryker nearly died on a planet where they hadn't seen the stars We were there to watch them quietly and he ended up behind their bars Wesley was sentenced to die on a world where the lawn was the law And I looked at the Prime Directive and I found a fatal flaw Which is every time it matters every time the stakes are real The regulation says to walk away but it cannot tell you how to feel [Verse 5] So here I stand upon a planet where they've barely found the wheel And I know I should be watching but I know the way I feel There's a child who's going to die tonight if I don't break my sacred vow The Prime Directive says to walk away but I am beaming down right now [Final Chorus] Oh the Prime Directive oh the Prime Directive It's the noblest thing in Starfleet and the first thing out the door Oh the Prime Directive oh the Prime Directive I have broken it so many times I don't know what it's for Don't know what it's for Don't know what it's for [Spoken] I'll put it in the log as a cultural exchange That usually works [End]