You Called It Salvation

[Intro — distorted voice, no beat] A proclamation. Red out loud... in Spanish. To people who could not understand the words. [Whisper] But the weapons needed no translation. [Beat enters — heavy, deliberate] [Verse — rhythmic spoken delivery] Church above you. Crown above your head. A stranger reads his orders. Your family's being threatened. Accept the rulers. Accept the claim. Refuse their orders— and they put you in chains. [Build — overlapping voices] They read it. They said it. They called that a choice. They read it. They said it. [Hard stop] Who heard your voice? [Hook — lead and crowd] YOU CALLED IT SALVATION! YOU CAME WITH CHAINS! YOU CALLED IT SALVATION! WE REMEMBER THE NAMES! BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS! WORDS ON A PAGE! YOU CALLED IT SALVATION! YOU CAN'T PRAY THIS AWAY! [Instrumental — grinding bass, guitar stabs] [Proclamation — cold official voice, dramatized] Accept the Church. Accept the Crown. Accept the king who claims your ground. Refuse— we bring the war to you. Your families taken. Your possessions too. And every death that follows— [Silence] We blame on you. [Drop — furious response] THEN YOU BLAMED THE DEAD! THEN YOU BLAMED THE DEAD! You wrote the threat. You brought the war. THEN YOU BLAMED THE DEAD! [Verse — stripped beat, every word exposed] Las Casas wrote of wagers— a killing made a game. Of children torn from mothers, then killed by men who came professing Christian mercy, with weapons in their hands. Thirteen on the gallows. Fire beneath the stands. Thirteen for their redeemer and the twelve beside his name. [Voice breaks into a shout] THEY BURNED THOSE PEOPLE LIVING. DON'T YOU DARE CLEAN UP THE PAGE. [Hook — full band, crowd louder] YOU CALLED IT SALVATION! YOU CAME WITH CHAINS! YOU CALLED IT SALVATION! WE REMEMBER THE NAMES! BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS! WORDS ON A PAGE! YOU CALLED IT SALVATION! YOU CAN'T PRAY THIS AWAY! [Breakdown — half-time, accusatory] Those Christian conquerors murdered Indigenous people. For Crown. For land. With God invoked to bless their hands. [Whisper — disgusted] Your so-called “master race.” [Shout] I SEE BLOOD. I SEE BLOOD. [Final hook — all voices] YOU CALLED IT SALVATION! THEN YOU BLAMED THE DEAD! YOU CALLED IT SALVATION! THEN YOU BLAMED THE DEAD! [All instruments silent] [Unprocessed voice] They had no hope of understanding. [Through their teeth] You understood exactly what you meant.