Me ... That's who Was making the sound But I wasn't The only one There were millions Of us Little frightened persons Protecting My family My food My land My people My belief My God My life ... And eventually We learned Something about Each other If you want A person to move You don't always Have to push them Sometimes You only have To show them A lion ... Tell them Something is coming Tell them Something can be taken Tell them Someone is dangerous Tell them They might not belong Tell them They might lose everything Then Point ... And watch Which way they run ... Fear Had learned Your name It knew You loved your children Protect them It knew You needed belonging Don't let them reject you It knew You needed food What if there isn't enough? It knew You wanted security Something might happen It knew You feared death What happens after? It knew You wanted God What if God rejects you? ... The lion Had become personal ... No longer Something Might happen Now Something Might happen To you ... And once fear Knows your name It can learn Everything attached to it Your family Your tribe Your country Your reputation Your money Your beliefs Your future Your salvation Everything The person says Mine Becomes something Fear can threaten ... And humans Learned quickly A frightened crowd Moves differently A frightened child Obeys differently A frightened believer Prays differently A frightened customer Buys differently A frightened voter Chooses differently A frightened nation Accepts things A peaceful nation Might question ... Not always because Someone is lying That's important Sometimes There really is A lion Sometimes The warning is true Sometimes The danger is real But fear discovered It didn't need To prove the lion Before the body Started running It only needed A believable roar ... And so The roar became Very valuable ... Danger Danger Danger They are coming You are losing You are unsafe You are wrong You don't have enough You aren't enough Your children Your money Your country Your soul Danger Danger Danger ... And somewhere Inside every frightened person The ancient body Still answered ALARM ... Look closely Different century Different costume Same heartbeat The king says Fear the enemy ALARM The preacher says Fear the judgment ALARM The merchant says Fear going without ALARM The screen says Fear what happened today ALARM The person beside you says Fear them ALARM And everybody Points Somewhere else ... But almost nobody asks Who benefits When I am afraid? ... Oh That's an uncomfortable Question ... Because sometimes The answer Is nobody Fear simply spreads One frightened person Frightens another Who frightens another Who frightens another Until an entire room Is running And nobody remembers Who saw The lion ... But sometimes Someone notices Fear makes people Watch Click Buy Obey Follow Fight Stay Leave Vote Give And once that is noticed The roar Can be manufactured ... Not the lion Just The roar ... And maybe That is enough Because the body Was built To react first And investigate later ... But something The frightened person Wasn't supposed to do Is happening I'm turning around Not toward The lion Toward The voice ... You said Something is coming Show me You said They are dangerous How do you know? You said I should be afraid Why? You said I could lose everything What exactly Am I protecting? ... The questions Don't kill The alarm They do something More dangerous They make me Look ... And fear Has always preferred That I run Before I look ... So now When someone Calls my name And points Into the darkness I don't immediately Run I listen I look I ask Is there A lion? Or did someone Learn How to roar? ... Silence ... Then somewhere Very far away Another voice begins Danger Danger Danger ... And millions Of little lights Wake up In the darkness ... Screens
