A passing stranger dressed in black
With slogans painted on his back.
Turned and stared and laughed and carried on.
Another came and did the same.
At first they made me feel ashamed.
But then I realised what I had done.
Without asking I had broke the rules.
Without knowing, I had made them fools.

By merely looking different.
To those who knew the game.
The unity was there to see.
A mass of non-conformity.
There's something wrong, or is it me?
But they all look just the same.
They hung around in silent pairs
And gave out their derisive stares.
To anyone who envied or ignored
A leaflet saying Smash the State.
Work in love and not hate.

Got snatched and ripped and ground into the floor.
Without asking it, I had caught them out
Without knowing what it was all about.
They assumed it was a wind-up or a con.
Making sure with a nervous glance
They re-affirmed each other's stance
And smiled and then forgot and carried on.

The passing strangers stayed that way.
And rotted away in their own decay.
Convinced they'd got it right, the rest were wrong.
By deriding them to gain respect.
They tied a noose around their neck
And fell when something different came along.
Without asking them, they were soon put down.
Without knowing why, they looked around.
And found a new dictatorship in power.
Acting just as they had done.

But on the other end it's not much fun.
And all their sweet delusions soon turned sour.
One man's hand is another man's fist.
And so the power games still exist.
And on idea is right, the rest are wrong.
While such ideas as this are here.
We'll never live without the fear
Of feeling that we somehow don't belong.