"unsubtle and manipulative" - I'd say you've got to be pretty subtle to be effectvely manipulative.
There's always a dilemma being two ways of telling a story. One is just presenting the facts, and leaving it to the listener/reader to make up their own minds, and the other is making a direct statement and implicitly challenging the listener to agree.
I think putting the last verse at the end instead at the start might be worth trying with this song, so that it sums up the situation after we've been taken through it.