Cass McCombs - Bradley Manning lyrics

When Bradley moved back from western Wales
His Okie accent still wouldn’t fail
Sleeping in his pickup truck
His Soul wouldn’t calm
He wrote to his mother, "I’m nobody now, Mom"

It’s hard to imagine why bullies dig
But Bradley understood it came with the gig
He wanted an education with all his will
So he walked in and signed up
To get that GI bill

"I want…"

Today, those who got up in Bradley’s face
Wish to remain anonymous, in their disgrace
They spread rumors around that
He wet himself scared even if that’s true
You know I don’t really care

"Recycled" from Iraq and stationed
At Fort Drum
His boyfriend introduced him to Triskelion
He met the hacktivists at MIT
"Randomly hung out with some
Pikans" "At last, people like me"

"I want…"

Deployed to Base Hammer, near Iran
Built from freight containers
And sheer boredom
The bullies on the base went in for the kill
They said
"We got a saying here: Shit rolls downhill"

On leave in Boston
But his boyfriend had flown
Bradley wrote him on Facebook: "I
Have no real home"
And before the Builds launch party
He went on to vent:
"Bradley Manning is not a piece of equipment"

"I want…"

While passwords are written on sticky notes
And stuck to laptop screens, Bradley explodes
Found in a storeroom stabbing a chair
Bradley carved
"I want…" with a passion that’s all-too rare

Now he’s due to be
Court martialed this December
To prove bullying is better
Than a wild temper
Now, when we say "I want"
We invoke his chair
Bradley, know you have friends
Though you’re locked in there

"I want…"