everybody scatters and hopes it goes away
how many kids they've murdered only god can say
i don't believe in generals or their stinking torture states
and when i talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate
to fall down from starvation -- or some less humane fate.
cry for guatemala, with a corpse in every gate
every time i think about it water rises to my eyes.
situation desperate echoes of the victims cry
on the cliff the U.S. Embassy
frowns out over managua like dracula's tower.
the kid who guards fonseca's tomb
cradles a beat-up submachine gun --
at age fifteen he's a veteran of four years of war
proud to pay his dues
he knows who turns the screws
baby face and old man's eyes
bullet-packed masaya streets
full of the ghosts of the heroes of monimbo
women of the town laundry
work and gossip and laugh at me --
they don't believe i'll ever send them the pictures i took.
for every scar on a wall
there's a hole in someone's heart
where a loved one's memory lives
you're the best of what we are --
don't let them stop you now
nicaragua
gazes from billboards and coins
"sandino vive en la lucha por la paz"
sandino of the shining dream
who stood up to the u.s. marines --
now washington panics at u2 shots of "cuban-style" latrines
they peek from planes
eavesdrop from ships
voyeurs licking moistened lips 'cause
you're the best of what we are --
don't let them stop you now
nicaragua
but he'll be heard anyway
but he won't stay under the rug
in which case you'd better hear it
who can touch you where you're human
male female slave or free
peaceful or disorderly
maybe you and he will not agree
but you need him to show you new ways to see
all it wants to do is rule you
pay attention to the poet
you need him and you know it
shoot him up with pentothal
shoot him up with lead
you won't call back what's been said
put him in the ground
but one day you'll look around
voicing thoughts you've heard before
peaceful or disorderly
maybe you and he will not agree
but you need him to show you new ways to see
all it wants to do is rule you
pay attention to the poet
you need him and you know it
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One of Canada's best known "radicals", Bruce Cockburn has spent years composing songs that rebel against the injustices he has witnessed during his travels. The lyrics below reflect his travels to Latin America in the mid-80s.
If I Had a Rocket Launcher
.....here comes the helicopter -- second time today
if i had a rocket launcher...i'd make somebody pay.
i don't believe in guarded borders and i don't believe in hate
if i had a rocket launcher...i would retaliate
on the rio lacantun one hundred thousand wait
if i had a rocket launcher...i would not hesitate
i want to raise every voice -- at least i've got to try.
if i had a rocket launcher...some sonofabitch would die
From "Stealing Fire" (Chiapas, Mexico and Toronto -- February and April 1983)
Nicaragua
.....breakfast woodsmoke on the breeze --
blue lagoon and flowering trees --
in the flash of this moment
sandino in his tom mix hat
in the flash of this moment
From "Stealing Fire" (Managua February 1983)
Maybe the Poet
.....maybe the poet is gay
maybe the poet is drugged
maybe the voice of the spirit
maybe he's a woman
don't let the system fool you
put him up against the wall
there'll be a face you don't know
male female slave or free
don't let the system fool you
From "Stealing Fire" (Toronto January 1982)
Like What You Have Read So Far? Check Out a Complete Discography and the Lyrics of Bruce Cockburn at this dedicated site below:
Or Get the Complete Musical History of Bruce Cockburn at
Sample more Radical Lyrics if you are viewing this page in a single window.
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