It was late one Friday afternoon
Whose hand?
The prison boat came silently down
Stayed a little out of town
The purpose they would learn too soon.
They came upon them after dark
Whose hand?
Pack your bags the orders rang
We'll take your leaders child and man
And not a dog had time to bark.
Two policemen lay at head and toe
Whose hand?
The reason why no one could tell
Before the dawn they knew quite well
And women and children were next to go.
Their houses burnt or taken down
Whose Hand?
To the government like a cattle herd
Songs and tears within them stirred
With a last look at their former town.
They protest with fear and woe
Whose hand?
Have we no rights no race no land?
We are people you understand
Have we no say in where we go?
Whose hand?
Whose hand?
Whose hand?
The prison boat came silently down
Stayed a little out of town
The purpose they would learn too soon.
They came upon them after dark
Whose hand?
Pack your bags the orders rang
We'll take your leaders child and man
And not a dog had time to bark.
Two policemen lay at head and toe
Whose hand?
The reason why no one could tell
Before the dawn they knew quite well
And women and children were next to go.
Their houses burnt or taken down
Whose Hand?
To the government like a cattle herd
Songs and tears within them stirred
With a last look at their former town.
They protest with fear and woe
Whose hand?
Have we no rights no race no land?
We are people you understand
Have we no say in where we go?
Whose hand?
Whose hand?
Contributed by Alessandro - 2009/9/30 - 12:01
×
![]()
Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
Album "The Ballad of Women"
Testo di anonimo, messo in versi da uno studente del Queensland di nome Ian Hills.
Negli anni '50 nella penisola di Cape York nel Queensland australiano furono scoperti importanti giacimenti di bauxite. Peccato che su quelle terre ci vivessero da sempre alcune comunità aborigene, quelle di Mapoon e di Lockhart River.. Ma il governo non ci pensò due volte su e deportò in massa i nativi concentrandoli a Bamaga, un'area molto ristretta dell'estremo nord della penisola. I villaggi delle comunità di Mapoon prima e più tardi quelle di Lockhart River, dove gli abitanti resistettero ai tentativi di deportazione fino al 1971, furono completamente rasi al suolo...
(fonte: en:wikipedia)