Once I Believed in Communication Lyrics by Fred Rand

Once a talker of my schemes
Once believing in pushing for peace
Information, unaltered and straight
Guaranteed to put people at ease

Yeah, I thrived on the thought of rebellion
That an open-source language was king
That our talking fed mutual gain
For then I believed in communication

They taught me how to kill my darlings
They taught me of critical thought
That a message is only completed
When arrived, comprehended and bought

So I killed her, my muse of ideals
In the interest of mutual view
Understanding won't show anyway
But once I believed in communication

To what ends should I be clear now
When those ends are aligned to you will?
To what use is information
When the ambition to heed it is nil?

If I told you, would you be listening?
Or just seek to approve your conception?
And you'd think we'll reach an agreement
For once I believed in communication as well

Every time you're asking for clarity
With an attention span of a bird
Turning coats or remain in the sand
Where no off-sounding voice can be heard

Come back when you got something to say
Not just hung up on rambling call
Make your notion last more than one day
Or I won't believe in your communication at all

Yeah, you want me to say what I mean
As if you would be listening that long
As if insight would grow from candor
As if people would gather in song

And I know now what's in your head
How your insight is in what I spell
I can't blame you for wanting it said
For once I believed in communication as well

Yeah, you want me to be available
As if all that you say would remain
To sift out the truth from your nonsense
Just to find out how fast it will wane

But I want you to believe in this song
It's not words in which I have no faith
It's the sender, the channel, the reader
For once I believed in communication as well

[Thanks to dotoar for adding these lyrics]