| SONG
LYRICS Voice
of America Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983) 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
Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983) 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 Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983)
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
Solidarity
Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983) 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 Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983)
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 Los
Desaparecidos (the disappeared ones) Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983)
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
Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983)
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) Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983)
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 And I ain't no
republican either And I only know one party and its name is freedom
I am a patriot And the river opens for the righteous, someday
Among
the Believers Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983)
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
(everybody goes home) Steven
Van Zandt (Blue Midnight Music, 1983)
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
Song lyrics are reproduced by kind permission of Steven Van Zandt. |