The country was in turmoil
With new crises by the hour
When one in three were out of work
The Party swept to power;
As life returned to normal
Law and order won the day
While all our rights and liberties
Were voted clean away...

They were cynical and ruthless
They'd manipulate the news
And smear or persecute the few
Who dared to leak the truth
Opponents had their phone tapped
And campaigners felt the heat
With terror suspects accidentally
Gunned down in the street

But the radio and papers said
The same thing every day
The government is wonderful
The country's doing great
And if someone else was suffering
They'd got themselves to blame
Don't say if you were in our shoes
You wouldn't do the same
And say
We didn't know what was going on...
We didn't know what was going on...

From Tel Aviv to Cape Town
From Shanghai to East Berlin
From Washington to Panama...
The years have come and been
From Delhi to Sri Lanka
From Whitehall to Coleraine
The times may be a-changing
But the story's still the same

'Cause the radio and papers say
The same thing every day
The government is wonderful
The country's doing great;
And if someone else is suffering
They've got themselves to blame
Don't say now you are in our shoes
That you won't do the same
And say

We didn't know what was going on...
We didn't know what was going on...