.Separated from the world by barbed wire, We’re rounded up from everywhere The longing woven into our hearts, Throbs like a ringing bell.
You with the striped rag on your back, Could you forget who you are—and where? They stitched a number to your breast, A red triangle and the letter “P”.
And your shaved head reminds you, Of your burden of sins unknown, And you yearn for the day When your will and your purpose return.
Neither stars nor sun bring you happiness, Neither day nor night yields joy. You stand and wait, dressed in stripes and shaved bare; With thousands of others like you.
The words of this song are stained with our blood, Within them are sorrow and grief, Yet your camp song will carry beyond these barbed wires To a distant place unknown to you.
Yet your camp song will carry beyond these barbed wires To a distant place unknown to you.
Now that the longhouses breed superstition You force us to send our toddlers away To your schools where they're taught to despise their traditions. You forbid them their languages, then further say That American history really began When Columbus set sail out of Europe, then stress That the nation of leeches that conquered this land Are the biggest and bravest and boldest and best. And yet where in your history books is the tale Of the genocide basic to this country's birth, Of the preachers who lied, how the Bill of Rights failed, How a nation of patriots returned to their earth?
The time has come To say fair's fair To pay the rent To pay our share The time has come A fact's a fact It belongs to them Let's give it back
Padded with power here they come International loan sharks backed by the guns Of market hungry military profiteers Whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared With the blood of the poor Who rob life of its quality Who render rage a necessity By turning countries into labour camps Modern slavers in drag as champions of freedom ...