[Verse 1]
In nineteen forty-seven when the smoke had cleared
A scholar sat examining what we all had feared
Victor Klemperer wrote it down in black and white
How language shapes the darkness, how words steal the light
[Pre-Chorus]
Listen close to what he found
In the ashes on the ground
[Chorus]
Words can be like tiny doses of arsenic
Swallowed unnoticed, so systematic
L-T-I, The Language of the Third Reich
After a while the toxic reaction strikes
Nineteen forty-seven, remember the year
When Klemperer showed us what we should fear
[Verse 2]
Not the shouting or the marching that we see so clear
But the quiet little phrases whispered in our ear
The way that normal language slowly twists and bends
Until we don't remember where the poison ends
[Pre-Chorus]
Hidden in the words we say
Truth can slowly fade away
[Chorus]
Words can be like tiny doses of arsenic
Swallowed unnoticed, so systematic
L-T-I, The Language of the Third Reich
After a while the toxic reaction strikes
Nineteen forty-seven, remember the year
When Klemperer showed us what we should fear
[Bridge]
Tiny doses, tiny doses
Building up inside
When language becomes toxic
There's nowhere left to hide
Klemperer's warning echoes
Through the years gone by
Watch the words around you
Don't let freedom die
[Chorus]
Words can be like tiny doses of arsenic
Swallowed unnoticed, so systematic
L-T-I, The Language of the Third Reich
After a while the toxic reaction strikes
Nineteen forty-seven, remember the year
When Klemperer showed us what we should fear
[Outro]
Tiny doses of arsenic
In the words we hear
Klemperer's exact quote
Keeps the warning clear