Cover art for Dissidents by Thomas Dolby

Dissidents

Produced by

Feb. 19841 viewer

Dissidents Lyrics

[Verse 1]
One more young writer slid away in the night
Over the border he will drown in light

[Pre-Chorus]
(And the man said)
Hold it (hold it)
(He said)
Wait a minute (wait a minute)
I can't read my writing

[Chorus]
My own writing
Like tiny insects (my writing)
In the palm of history (my writing)
A domino effect (my writing)
In a cloud of mystery (my own writing)
Is an iron fist (my writing)
In a glove full of Vaseline (my writing)
Dip the fuse in the kerosene (my own writing)
I too became a dissident
Became a dissident
Became a dissident

[Speech in Russian]
[Verse 2]
Courting disaster we ran in the night
Wings of an angel were torn in flight

[Pre-Chorus]
(When the man said)
Check it (hold it)
(He said)
Verify it (wait a minute)
It's all here in writing

[Chorus]
My own writing
Like tiny insects (my writing)
In the palm of history (my writing)
A domino effect
And an early end to the story (my writing)
Is an iron fist (my writing)
In a glove full of Vaseline (my writing)
Dip the fuse in the kerosene (my own writing)
I too became a dissident
Became a dissident
Became a dissident

[Miscellaneous voice samples]
[Pre-Chorus]
Check it
Said, verify it
It's all here in writing

[Chorus]
Down in writing
At the hands of the press (my writing)
And in the eyes of the government (my writing)
I fell from grace (my writing)
I too became a dissident
I was a dissident, yeah

Like tiny insects (my writing)
In the palm of history (my writing)
A domino effect
And an early end to the story (my writing)
Is an iron fist
In a glove full of Vaseline
Dip the fuse in the kerosene
I too became a dissident
Became a dissident
A dissi-, a dissi-, a dissi-

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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Credits
Produced By
Backing Vocals
Release Date
February 1984
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