They Had Names

[Intro | E Minor | 142 BPM | fingerpicked acoustic guitar, upright bass] They had names. That's what I keep thinking about. Not numbers. Not specimens. Names. [Verse 1 | acoustic guitar, upright bass] They built a place Behind the walls Where science Lost its soul Doctors took notes Soldiers stood guard And human beings Became the work They studied sickness They studied cold They studied pain They studied death Then wrote it down In careful hands Like none of it Had ever been A person [Pre-Chorus | mandolin enters] A white coat Doesn't make A cruel thing Kind [Chorus | full band, fuzzy electric guitars] They had names They had mothers They had children They had homes They had birthdays They had people Who would wonder Where they'd gone You can call them Samples You can call them Subjects You can write A number On a page But they had names Before you took them And they had names When they died [Verse 2 | brushed drums, fuzzy electric guitar enters] They tested weapons They grew disease They studied bodies Without consent They learned exactly How much suffering A human being Could endure And somewhere Someone wrote Another number On another page Another experiment Another room Another person Who would never Go home [Pre-Chorus] The paperwork Was clean The science Was not [Chorus | heavier fuzzy guitars] They had names They had mothers They had children They had homes They had birthdays They had people Who would wonder Where they'd gone You can call them Samples You can call them Subjects You can write A number On a page But they had names Before you took them And they had names When they died [Verse 3 | arrangement pulls back] And when the war was over The uniforms came off The laboratory's emptied The prisoners were gone And some of the men Who learned that evil Went back into society Some kept their careers Some kept their knowledge Some escaped The consequences Because another country Wanted what they'd learned [Bridge | acoustic guitar, upright bass only] And it really does Make me feel sick Not only what they did But how easily Knowledge can become More valuable Than the people It cost to obtain it A laboratory Can be cleaned A building Can be demolished A name Can disappear But the person Was still there Before you erased them [Bridge Build | mandolin tremolo, brushed drums, fuzzy electric guitars] They had names. Say that again. They had names. [Final Chorus | full band, thick fuzzy electric guitars] They had names They had mothers They had children They had homes They had laughter They had birthdays They had places They called home They weren't specimens They weren't numbers They weren't lessons For a page They were people And people Should never Be the price Of knowledge [Outro | acoustic guitar only] They had names. We should remember them. Not for what was done to their bodies. Not for what was learned. But for who they were Before someone decided They were useful. [Silence] They had names.