Voice of America (1984) _______________________________________________________________________ VOICE OF AMERICA Can you hear me, wake up Where's the voice of America Somebody help me, we gotta stop a crime I been betrayed by my own kind I been quiet, too quiet while across the borderline We die Can you hear me, wake up Where's the voice of America I know that we knew right from wrong once upon a time Everything we stood for has been compromised I been quiet, too quiet while across our borderline My people lie Can you hear me, wake up Where's the voice of America You're quiet, too quiet, are you still alive Inside Can you hear me, wake up, we're the voice of America We're the voice of America We're the voice of America We're the voice of America _______________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE Somebody's country, somebody's war Nobody knows just what they're fighting for Somebody's baby dressed in black There's a war at home But he ain't never coming back Hey, I want justice You know my baby can't walk the streets at night Can't get no protection, you know that ain't right I'm getting tired of paying for shit I never get Somebody promised justice But he ain't delivered yet I've been patient, I've been trying Can't watch my brothers and my sisters dying Don't read the papers, don't watch the news Don't want the government point of view This is my country, this is my war This time I know just what I'm fighting for Until we get the streets back We're prisoners you and I I'll be here fighting 'till the day I die _______________________________________________________________________ CHECKPOINT CHARLIE Checkpoint Charlie Walls so wide, can't get around it Walls so high, can't climb over Gotta come down Checkpoint Charlie Brothers and sisters on the other side Livin' in the shadow of a wall so high Make me wanna cry I know that someday we'll be together If we really want it Nothin' that hurts, gonna last forever Why do we let it happen Or is it that we don't mind Somebody bein' punished for their fathers' crimes Checkpoint Charlie Brothers and sisters on the other side Livin' in the shadow of a wall so high Make me wanna cry I know that someday we'll be together If we really want it Nothin' that hurts, gonna last forever Why do we let it happen Or is it that we don't mind Somebody bein' punished for their fathers' crimes Checkpoint Charlie Walls so wide, can't get around it Walls so high, can't climb over Gotta come down _______________________________________________________________________ SOLIDARITY Everybody wants the same things don't they Everybody wants a happy end They just want to see the game on Saturday They wanna be somebody's friend Everybody wants to work for a living Everybody wants to keep their children warm Everybody just wants to be forgiven Everyone wants shelter from the storm Look at me I ain't your enemy Why can't we walk on common ground We don't need to be fighting each other What we need, what we need is solidarity Nobody likes to ask for money Nobody likes to play the clown Nobody likes waiting in the long lines Nobody likes being pushed around Everybody wants their family protected They only want to express themselves Everybody wants to live forever Everybody wants to be somebody else Look at me I ain't your enemy Don't believe everything you hear This is no time to be fighting each other What we need, what we need is solidarity _______________________________________________________________________ OUT OF THE DARKNESS There's a sadness all around us There are words we're too afraid to say The things that I thought would last forever Are changing every day There's a hunger that can't be satisfied And the streets are filled with rage It's time to dig deep inside ourselves And face the life we've made It's gonna take the two of us I just can't do it all on my own I see the day gettin' brighter Hold me a little bit tighter Out of the darkness and hand in hand Baby together we will make our stand Reach out and touch me we can win somehow I know there's nothin' that can stop us now Oh baby, come with me out of the darkness I've lived my life trapped with trouble Now it's time to make a new start I thought the only justice in this world Came from an angry heart Now I know there's got to be love to protect us But we can't wait for it to come I know there's more to life than black and white The sooner we learn, the sooner we've won It's gonna take the two of us I just can't make it all on my own If you are a fighter Hold me a little bit tighter Out of the darkness and hand in hand Baby together we will make our stand Reach out and touch me we can win somehow I know there's nothin' that can stop us now Oh baby, come with me out of the darkness It's gonna take the two of us I just can't make it all on my own If you are a fighter Hold me a little bit tighter Out of the darkness and hand in hand Baby together we will make our stand Reach out and touch me we can win somehow I know there's nothin' that can stop us now Oh baby, come with me out of the darkness _______________________________________________________________________ LOS DESAPARECIDOS Were you shaken, by the thunder It will pass with the night Don't you be frightened my child Rest your head here awhile I must tell you about your papa and the price that he paid For speaking his heart out one day They came and took him away Fighting here is all that remains for us now We've stopped trying to hide our hatred inside We're crying out loud baby we once were so proud Jesus where are you now Where have you gone desparecido I hope someone remembers your name Where have you gone desaparecido How can they just turn their backs to our shame Where have you gone desaparecido I taste your blood in the roots of this land Where have you gone desaparecido Mi querido, only yesterday I held your hand There's a dark road no one speaks of But we must live with the truth It runs from the Plaza De Mayo To the Rio Sumpul They say someday, when we die, we'll ride Wild horses in a world without end But what do we do until then Standing here and staring straight into the lies They can steal all we have But never can they steal the hope from our eyes Baby our heart must survive How many times must we die Where have you gone desaparecido I see your face in every grain of sand Where have you gone desaparecido Mi querido, only yesterday I held your hand _______________________________________________________________________ FEAR In this jungle we're slaves to politics And we call ourselves civilized If you ain't got the muscle Fear is gonna run your life Fear makes me wanna hurt you Fear makes you wanna hurt me Fear makes you swallow whatever you're handed Fear keeps you angry 'cause you don't understand it Got no chance if we're fighting on the wrong side Got no chance if we're fighting on the wrong side again Can you taste it Tastes like fear I used to love to fight baby all the time Until the day came I realized Somebody I don't know pushin' me inside I been spilling strange blood and I don't know why Fear makes me wanna kill you Fear makes you wanna kill me Fear keeps us segregated Fear breeds a hatred we ain't born with Got no chance if we're fighting on the wrong side Got no chance if we're fighting on the wrong side again I can taste it Feels like fear Tastes like fear _______________________________________________________________________ I AM A PATRIOT And the river opens for the righteous, someday I was walking with my brother And he wondered what was on my mind I said what I believe in my soul It ain't what I see with my eyes And we can't turn our backs this time I am a patriot and I love my country Because my country is all I know I want to be with my family With people who understand me I got nowhere else to go I am a patriot And the river opens for the righteous, someday I was talking with my sister She looked so fine I said baby what's on your mind She said I want to run like the lion Released from the cages Released from the rages Burning in my heart tonight I am a patriot and I love my country Because my country is all I know And I ain't no communist, and I ain't no capitalist And I ain't no socialist and I sure ain't no imperialist And I ain't no democrat ain't I ain't no republican either And I only know one party and it's name is freedom I am a patriot And the river opens for the righteous, someday _______________________________________________________________________ AMONG THE BELIEVERS We are poets, we're soldiers We're children of the night With the turn of a dial we're sanctified We are the rebels who carry your names We'll learn from your history and bury your pain Please wait for us, it's not too late for us I remain among the believers Out in the desert where the gypsy pirates ride I see peacemakers coming, I see justice in our time Your local politics ain't got no heart Your strength has no power, you're scared of the dark Please wait for us, it's not too late for us I remain among the believers Your fear keeps you angry, deaf, dumb and blind Your greed is a hunger that eats its own kind Please wait for us, it's not too late for us I remain among the believers _______________________________________________________________________ UNDEFEATED Your love is so precious baby So precious to me now I got a thousand miles behind me And a thousand more to go somehow And there ain't no peace with honor baby No matter what you hear Ain't no peace with honor baby Until we disappear Don't call yourself a patriot Not with that gun in your hand There's only one way out of here I understand Undefeated, everybody goes home I got your picture close to me I touch it when I'm scared at night I want your picture to be the last thing I ever see in my life And I ain't got no time for your pity I got no more words to say And you don't know what you care about Until it's blown away Don't call yourself religious Not with that knife in your hand And there's only one way out of here I understand That is Undefeated, everybody goes home There's never been more distance baby Keeping us apart There's an ocean, there's a desert There's a hole right through my heart I hope you can remember me I might be gone to stay I might be here forever Fighting here forever baby Until we're Undefeated, everybody goes home _______________________________________________________________________