Non-State Actor Lyrics

Lyric discussion by S14 

Cover art for Non-State Actor lyrics by Soundgarden

I agree with Naataq. Though the song can be applied to all NSAs from terrorist groups to evangelical organizations, I think it's mostly about the multinational megacorporation who hold control over a frighteningly large segment of the American government (and other governments besides). The ones who keep paying politicians to lobby for lower taxes for multibillion-dollar companies. Kinda like the crackpot Illuminati conspiracies, but real.

"Coin in every pocket, more mouths to feed"

  • (Capitalism)

"So weak in the land . . . I'll be the seed"

  • (Development aid and economic progress in general to third world nations, but with the ultimate goal of control)

"I bring you the healer . . . and you are the cure, I am the drug"

  • (First world comforts, at the expense of monopoly)

"A motherless country, of thee I sing"

  • (Extreme right politics, patriarchal values)

"I teach you a lesson, sword for a pen . . . You are tabula rasa, I am the book"

  • (Control of the masses through propaganda, including steering countries to war)

"We're not elected . . . and we settle for a little bit more than everything"

  • (They hold no allegiance to any country or people, but are motivated solely by profit)