Do Not Engage [Deluxe-Only]
from Desync (Deluxe Edition) by James Paddock
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Full Digital Discography
Get all 40 James Paddock releases available on Bandcamp.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of SIGIL II - The MIDI Soundtrack, Abyss of Time, Abyss of Time (Instrumentals), Swallow [ft. The Final Event & Keagan Dunn] - SINGLE, Impossible - SINGLE, The Penalty [ft. Marian Paddock] - SINGLE, Destroyer of Worlds - SINGLE, Invasive EP, and 32 more.
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about
"Do Not Engage"
On the surface this may appear as a song centred on the idea of disengaging from personal confrontations, or even as echoing old adages like "say nothing if you have nothing nice to say" and variations thereof. There is a deeper meaning here, connected once more to the state of modern society, particularly in the online sphere.
In the age of outrage culture, an incredibly effective way to attract clicks is to call attention to the vitriolic, the bigoted and the otherwise obscene. It is done even by the well-meaning, who may not even wish to farm attention or engagement of any kind, merely to point and laugh at the atrocities they are bringing up. In many of these cases, those people are actually being deceptively played as pawns by the very ones they are seeking to tear down. Anger is easily farmable.
Algorithmically speaking, there is absolutely no way to distinguish whether engagement is positive or negative - to the algorithm, a click is a click, and the poison is allowed to further seep. If reprehensible names and deeds are allowed to circulate more and more via repeated online sharing, they gain traction, and eventually, at worst, become normalised. We must deplatform those who do irrevocable harm to our society, disperse their audiences, and dismantle their echo chambers.
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On the surface this may appear as a song centred on the idea of disengaging from personal confrontations, or even as echoing old adages like "say nothing if you have nothing nice to say" and variations thereof. There is a deeper meaning here, connected once more to the state of modern society, particularly in the online sphere.
In the age of outrage culture, an incredibly effective way to attract clicks is to call attention to the vitriolic, the bigoted and the otherwise obscene. It is done even by the well-meaning, who may not even wish to farm attention or engagement of any kind, merely to point and laugh at the atrocities they are bringing up. In many of these cases, those people are actually being deceptively played as pawns by the very ones they are seeking to tear down. Anger is easily farmable.
Algorithmically speaking, there is absolutely no way to distinguish whether engagement is positive or negative - to the algorithm, a click is a click, and the poison is allowed to further seep. If reprehensible names and deeds are allowed to circulate more and more via repeated online sharing, they gain traction, and eventually, at worst, become normalised. We must deplatform those who do irrevocable harm to our society, disperse their audiences, and dismantle their echo chambers.
=====
lyrics
You might feel a corrosive sting
From every word that tumbles out their mouths
You might be tempted to throw fists
And watch them fall and crumple to the ground
But what for?
(What for?)
They know exactly what they do
(And all they do to you)
Who'll break the chain of their untruths?
It must be you
Do not engage
Don't take the bait
Don't give in to the rage
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
Do not resuscitate their lies
Attention only gives them life
Just breathe and turn the other way
Do not engage
I know you've waded in it deep
And now your world just seems beyond all help
I know how far anger can seep
And how you'd rather see them burn in hell
It's all for nought
(For nought)
They've got you led on by a leash
(Oh, oh)
Who'll cut the cord and see release?
It can't be me
Do not engage
Don't take the bait
Don't give in to the rage, no
(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
Do not resuscitate their lies
Attention only gives them life
Just breathe and turn the other way, yeah
Do not engage
Step out of the ring
They mean not a thing
Do not engage
Don't take the bait
Don't give in to the rage
(Oh)
(Do not resuscitate their lies, no)
(Just breathe and turn the other way)
From every word that tumbles out their mouths
You might be tempted to throw fists
And watch them fall and crumple to the ground
But what for?
(What for?)
They know exactly what they do
(And all they do to you)
Who'll break the chain of their untruths?
It must be you
Do not engage
Don't take the bait
Don't give in to the rage
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
Do not resuscitate their lies
Attention only gives them life
Just breathe and turn the other way
Do not engage
I know you've waded in it deep
And now your world just seems beyond all help
I know how far anger can seep
And how you'd rather see them burn in hell
It's all for nought
(For nought)
They've got you led on by a leash
(Oh, oh)
Who'll cut the cord and see release?
It can't be me
Do not engage
Don't take the bait
Don't give in to the rage, no
(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
Do not resuscitate their lies
Attention only gives them life
Just breathe and turn the other way, yeah
Do not engage
Step out of the ring
They mean not a thing
Do not engage
Don't take the bait
Don't give in to the rage
(Oh)
(Do not resuscitate their lies, no)
(Just breathe and turn the other way)
credits
from Desync (Deluxe Edition),
released September 9, 2022
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
James Paddock England, UK
Composer, singer, artist, and video game developer.
discography
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Nov 2023 -
Dec 2023 -
Aug 2023 -
Nov 2023
contact / help
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