Exodus - The Last Act of Defiance lyrics

"The prison system
Inherently unjust and inhumane is
The ultimate expression
Of injustice and inhumanity in the
Society at large those of us on
The outside do not like to
Think of wardens and guards
As our surrogates
Yet they are and they are intimately
Locked in a deadly embrace with their human
Captives behind prison walls by extension
So are we a terrible double meaning
Is thus imparted to the
Original question of human ethics 'Am
I my brother's keeper?'"

The second of February, 1980
Began three days of misery
A scene of retaliation
Epitomising violence, horror, and vindication
Thieves, murderers, and rapists
Inundated their prison like homicidal sadists
Guards and convicts alike would pay the price
To them the electric chair
Would look like paradise!
Only degradation, torture
And cremation would suffice!
A sea of agony rolled in
Like the coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped the insanity
Through suicide the screams of the dying
Would haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot
Relive the nightmare every day!

The last act of defiance!
The last act of defiance!

With a never-ending appetite
Barbiturates set them off like dynamite
Eradicating informants
Acetylene torches dealt the punishment
Melted from skin to bone
The fire silenced their screams to moans
Smoke filled the air from bodies set aflame
Begging for mercy, but their words
Were spoken in vain!
They weren't allowed to perish until
They cherished all the pain!

A sea of agony rolled in
Like the coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped the insanity
Through suicide the screams of the dying
Would haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot
Relive the nightmare every day!
The last act of defiance!
The last act of defiance!

Guards they had taken hostage
Were to blame for pushing them over the edge
Their brutality would be their demise
Like sharks in a frenzy they
Lashed out at their prize
When the madness had ended
The gore was too intense to be comprehended
No one explained the real reason why
For cruelty of a few so many should die
They knew of the flaw
But still insist the cause was justified!

A sea of agony rolled in
Like the coming of the tide
The more fortunate escaped the insanity
Through suicide the screams of the dying
Would haunt the living to the grave
Survivors of the riot
Relive the nightmare every day!
The last act of defiance!
The last act of defiance!