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Behind These Prison Walls

from Viral Solidarity by David Rovics

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This song first made its appearance on the internet as a video filmed in front of Belmarsh Prison in London, England. You can find it on YouTube.

lyrics

Behind these prison walls there's a man who's won awards
For the work that he has done and all that it affords
Such as the knowledge of the horrors committed in our name
They can't stop the message, so the messenger gets blamed

Behind these prison walls, in solitary confinement
In a land of rolling hills and royalty and other such refinement
Is someone who is a hero to whistleblowers everywhere
Who helped them tell the world of the crimes of Tony Blair

Behind these prison walls you will find a mortal man
The reason why we know what happened in Afghanistan
When the soldiers of the empire whose sun set long before
Were torturing civilians in their terror war

Behind these prison walls is a part of Wikileaks
An eloquent orator, but you won't hear him speakh
Locked away in silence, one who knows too well
How those in power act when there's another war to sell

Behind these prison walls is one who stands accused
Of exactly what offenses, the US has refused
To say precisely which, or to try to clear the mist
Or to explain how he's not the same as other journalists

Behind these prison walls is a person they'd deprive
Of most of the things in life that keep us all alive
A person being tortured, as we stand here now
For revealing the war crimes – why, when, where, how

Behind these prison walls, our very right to be informed
Of what the hell is going on is the teacup in this storm
With knowledge there is power, so the solution by the Crown
A 24-hour-a-day, indefinite lockdown

Behind these prison walls

credits

from Viral Solidarity, released April 3, 2020

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David Rovics Portland, Oregon

Singer/songwriter, writer, podcaster (on Spotify, Substack & Patreon), anarchist, dad, lover of life.

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