[Verse 1] In the factory halls where workers toil each day They believe the system's fair, it's just the natural way But Gramsci saw the truth behind the mask they wear False consciousness keeps them unaware The ruling class don't need their guns or chains When ideology flows through our veins [Chorus] Hegemony, hegemony Not force but consent that sets the stage Cultural reproduction, ideological construction Teaching us to love our cage False consciousness, we must confess The dominant ideas feel so true But whose interests do they serve When we think this world's for me and you [Verse 2] Althusser wrote from his academic chair About the state machines beyond compare Ideological apparatus in every school Churches, media - each a ruling tool They don't just repress, they create belief Making exploitation seem like relief [Chorus] Hegemony, hegemony Not force but consent that sets the stage Cultural reproduction, ideological construction Teaching us to love our cage False consciousness, we must confess The dominant ideas feel so true But whose interests do they serve When we think this world's for me and you [Bridge] Prison notebooks filled with insight deep How the powerful make us want to keep The very system that holds us down Common sense becomes their crown Coercion's crude but consent's refined When revolution starts within the mind [Verse 3] From family values to the American Dream Every story fits the capitalist scheme We reproduce the culture that we're taught Never questioning the battles that were fought The dominant ideology feels like choice But listen close - whose is that voice [Final Chorus] Hegemony, hegemony Not force but consent that sets the stage Cultural reproduction, ideological construction Teaching us to love our cage Break false consciousness, we must progress See through the ideas that seem so true Question whose interests they serve This world could be made anew [Outro] Gramsci's wisdom, Althusser's call Ideology's the strongest wall But consciousness can break us free From hegemony
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