We Gave You the Key

We built the road, we built the school
We gave you the office, not the country

You walked beside us in the pouring rain
Sleeves rolled high, the same as ours
You said power belonged to the people
Said no leader stood above the law
You were marching at a padlocked gate
You were shouting in a banned parade
Now you've got the gate, you've got the guards
And questioning you is somehow wrong

Same old chair, different name
Same old match, different flame
Every generation gets one warning
Don't become the thing you came to change

We gave you the key, not the kingdom
We gave you the seat, not the throne
We sent you to speak for the people
Don't come back claiming our home

Who built the house? (The people!)
Who paid the cost? (The people!)
Who gave the power? (The people!)
Then who is the boss? (The people!)

Thirty years behind the same door
Same old photograph above the table
Every season brings the promise
"This one will be my final term"
If the limit says you're finished
Change the limit, change the date
The auditor is transferred
And the newspaper gets sold

Different anthem, different name
Different uniform, same game
Every generation gets one warning
Don't become the thing you came to change

We gave you the key, not the kingdom
We gave you the seat, not the throne

We sent you to speak for the people
Don't come back claiming our home

Then who is the boss? (The people!)

Camera on the corner
Number by your name
If power can see everybody
Who tells power where to stop?

Patriotism isn't silence
Loyalty isn't fear
Don't tell me justice came from rulers
Justice came because we pushed

We gave you the key, not the kingdom
We gave you the seat, not the throne
We gave you the law to protect us
Not permission to make it your own

Power is borrowed
Give it back