They Listen

Yeah, yeah
Check, Check, Check
London core, fibre floor
Big cage by the door

They listen, they listen
Tap that line when the packets go missing
They listen, they listen
Cold black box in the core just ticking
They listen, they listen
Too much trust, not enough suspicion
They listen, they listen
It ain't paranoia if they're on a mission

Snowden spoke, whole globe froze
I said, "Hold on — you lot don't know?"
Back in '98, late nights, no sleep
Hackers knew truths that the papers wouldn't speak
London core where the fibre flows
Glass door buzz and the cold air blows
Steel cage sitting by the entry pipe
One glance — Big Brother, plain in sight
Black box blink with a quiet little light
Gov kit tucked in the middle of the night
Wasn't cloak, wasn't dagger, wasn't myth
It was right there humming like, "Deal with this"

Ask any hacker from back in the day
"They listen, they listen" is what we'd say
No big shock, no twist, no mystery
Just plain-sight secrets humming in the grid

They listen, they listen
Tap that line when the packets go missing
They listen, they listen
Cold black box in the core just ticking
They listen, they listen
Too much trust, not enough suspicion
They listen, they listen
It ain't paranoia if they're on a mission

I weren't shocked that the state had ears
I was shocked by the trust and the wasted years
Shocked by the smiles, shocked by the silence
Shocked that the public still waved at the sirens
"You thought they're on your side? That's cute"
Suit and tie smile while they hide the truth
Matrix minds with the blinds half closed
Big truth parked right under your nose
Britain got spies with a polished rep
Old school charm with a cold intercept
Best in the world, yeah, that's the line
So why act stunned when they watch online?

Ask any hacker from back in the day
"They listen, they listen" is what we'd say
No big shock, no twist, no mystery
Just plain-sight secrets humming in the grid

They listen, they listen
Tap that line when the packets go missing
They listen, they listen
Cold black box in the core just ticking
They listen, they listen
Too much trust, not enough suspicion
They listen, they listen
It ain't paranoia if they're on a mission

Who's on the line?
They listen
Who's in the wire?
They listen
Who's in the room when the lights go dim?
Cold black box and the suits come in
Who's on the line?
They listen
Who's in the wire?
They listen
Eyes wide open, no blind ambition
It ain't paranoia if they're on a mission

Could've flipped their own net back
Ran their spy line through a clean hack
Big Brother broadcast, BBC One
Primetime proof when the evening comes
Auntie Beeb with the feed gone live
Whole nation watching through Big Brother's eyes
That's the righteous hack, that's the dream
Turn their own eyes on the hidden regime
Real hackers don't run to the press
They breach the screen and address the mess
Take the signal, twist the frame
Make the hidden system say its name

They listen, they listen
Tap that line when the packets go missing
They listen, they listen
Cold black box in the core just ticking
They listen, they listen
Too much trust, not enough suspicion
They listen, they listen
It ain't paranoia if they're on a mission

They listen, still listen, through wire and screen
The real shock weren't the spy machine
It was how many still lived in the dream
They listen, they listen