October 4th, 1900. Starved children in British concentration camp, South Africa. One European had the following comment on England's conduct with the concentration camps: "Great Britain cannot win her battles without resorting to the despicable cowardice of the most loathsome cure on earth - the act of striking at a brave man's heart through his wife's honour and his child's life."
War
Child - October 4th, 1900
You, who are the hope of our people;
You, who our people can barely spare;
You, who should grow up
to become a man;
You, who must perform your duty, if you can;
You, who have no part in the war;
You, who should sing and
jump for joy -
You must perish in a children's camp
You must
be eliminated for peace:
Fold your hands tight together,
Close
your eyes and say amen!
Whooping-cough and consumption, without
milk:
bitter for you is the fate of life!
There is your
place, at the children's graves -
Two in one coffin, a wedding
couple!
Al you gain is that we will remember:
Our freedom
more precious than woman or child!
You are cringing away from the
gusts of the wind
The chill seeping through the hail-torn tent -
Your scanty shield against torturing torrents;
The June
chill bursts over the banks of the Vaal river -
And all you can
hear are the coughs from your child, and the
ceaseless patter of
rain on the canvas.
A candle stub, just an inch before death
faintly flickering in a bottle
a sty offers more comfort and
rest.
But here, at night every thought is a round of torture
and tears.
Here, the early-born child flounders
Here, the aged
fades away
Here, all you can hear is wailing and sighs
Here,
every second is a lifetime of dread;
Every minute leaves
scars on your soul, sacrifice without end.
Forgive? Forget? Is it
possible to forgive?
The sorrow, the despair demanded so much!
The branding iron painfully left its scar
on our nation, for
ages to see, and the wound is too raw -
Too close to our
heart and to deep in our souls -
"Patience, o patience, how
much can you bear?"
- C Louis Leipoldt
The
Youngest Citizen
The camp of women is ruled by silence and
darkness
The misery kindly concealed by the night
Here and
there a minute light is flickering
Where the Angel of Death is
lingering.
In this place of woe and of broken hearts
A
young boy's muffled whimpers quiver through the night
Who can
count all the tears, who can measure the grief
of an orphan alone
in the world
Later on in the poem De Wet describes the struggle to the escaped child who wishes to join the commando:
Freedom demands from our ranks
Men of courage who taunt
mortal danger.
But also in the camp, the mother, the nurturer
And the innocent child on her breast.
And the reward?
Perhaps on the plains
A lonesome grave doused by no tears.
Sometime, perhaps, posterity might honour our heroes...
Boy,
do you feel up to it? General, I do!"
"War Child"
by The Cranberries
Who will save the war child baby?
Who
controls the key?
The web we weave is thick and sordid, Fine by
me.
At times of war, we're all the losers, There's no
victory.
We'll shoot to kill and kill your lover, Fine by me.
War
child, victom of political pride.
Plant the seed, teritorial
greed.
Mind the war child. We should mind the warchild.
I
spent last winter in New York, and came upon a man.
He was
sleeping on the streets, and homeless.
He said, 'I fought in
Vietnam.'
Beneath his shirt he wore the mark.
He bore the mark
with pride.
A two inch deep insicion carved into his side.
War
child, victim of political pride.
Plant the seed, teritorial
greed.
Mind the war child.
We should mind the warchild.
Who's
the loser now, eh?
Who's the loser now, eh?
We're all the
losers now,
We're all the losers now.
Warchild, warchild.
THE
CRANBERRIES - "Zombie"
Another head hangs lowly,
Child
is slowly taken.
And the violence caused such silence,
Who are
we mistaken?
But you see, it's not me, it's not my family.
In
your head, in your head they are fighting,
With their tanks and
their bombs,
And their bombs and their guns.
In your head, in
your head, they are crying...
In your head, in your
head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie,
Hey, hey, hey. What's in your
head,
In your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie?
Hey, hey, hey,
hey, oh, dou, dou, dou, dou, dou...
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over.
When the violence causes silence,
We must
be mistaken.
It's the same old theme since 1916.
In your
head, in your head they're still fighting,
With their tanks and
their bombs,
And their bombs and their guns.
In your head, in
your head, they are dying...
In your head, in your
head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie,
Hey, hey, hey. What's in your
head,
In your head, Zombie, zombie, zombie?
Johnny
Clegg - Colours Of Change
I'm showing you this picture because it
changed all that I am
It's a picture of somebody she's beautiful
and holding my hand
At the moment they took the picture I felt
a moment of something real
And I knew I could be somebody and
change this life I feel
I feel a new day coming on see colours
of change
I know the feeling of every man who's lived alone
And
found that special place that he could call his own
Not that it
means anything at all she's just the one who gives me
A place in
this world
For an instant I felt the sun was shining down on
me
And I knew I had the chance To be somebody
I feel a new day
coming on see colours of change
I feel a new day coming on
bye
bye loneliness - hello loveThe World in Union (Rugby World
Cup 1995 opening and closing theme song) by
Jennifer Jones,
Ladysmith Blacksmith Mambasa, "Where the World Began"
There's
a dream I feel
So rare, so real:
All the world in union, the
world as one -
Gathering together, one mind, one heart,
Every
creed, every colour, once joined never apart.
Searching for
the best in me, I will find what I can be,
If I win, lose or draw,
there's a winner in us all,
It's the world in union, the world as
one,
as we climb to reach our destiny,
Our New Age has
begun!
We face high mountains, must cross rough seas,
We
must take our place in history, and live with dignity,
Just to
be the best I can
Sets the goal for every man,
If I win, lose
or draw, it's a victory for all,
It's the world in union, the
world as one,
as we climb to reach our destiny,
Our New Age has
begun !
Johnny Clegg - Orphans of the Empire
On
ships they came from Europe, across the salt sea
Come for the
build and raise a colony and in the jungle green their citadels did
gleam
In tribute and homage to the old country
And soon their
children grew and promised to be true
Orphans of an Empire, their
destiny
Hold me close Africa, Fill my soul Africa
Let me
grow old, Africa
Let me in, Fill my soul Africa
Don't let me
go, Africa. Let me grow old, Africa
And remember me
Imperial
gentleman, he built mighty walls
And in the jungle atternoon he
plays polo when he's bored
He sips a gin and tonic and tells
you
confidentially, He wishes he understood the indiginies
But the
shadows they are lengthening and the sun it must set
Bewildered
and confused he scurries home to his bed
He cannot understand
the soldiers all at hand
For with guns you cannot fight a foe that
dwells within
But the battle had begun and a soldier he's
become
Who can sing his litany?
It's a beggarman's prayer or a
string on the wind
Will that be all that lingers on the
memory?
And who will remember that African December?
When
he knelt before the colours and swore to do or die?
And he kissed
his frightened lover, beneath the glowing embers
Of that dark,
strange heaven, that ancient sky
Now he's gone to dust, just like
all good soldiers must
But the mournful mutter of the battlefield
still lingers in the air
So it's farewell sweet Caroline,
farewell Elizabeth
Goodbye gentle ladies of the old order
And
farewell to your islands carved upon this continent
Some England,
some France and some Germany
Soon you will return to that dream
across the sea
Cause here is no more honey left for tea
Hold
me close Africa, Fill my soul Africa
Let me grow old, Africa
Let
me in
Fill my soul Africa
Don't let me go, Africa
Let me
grow old, Africa
And remember me
"Another
Country" by Mango Groove
You will walk beside me
I'll
tell you no lies
and then you'll see another country in my eyes
If we could reach beyond the bounds of blame
and make
history blind
and peel away the easy balm of words
this is all
we'd find
A mother cries, fear in an old man's eyes
a
child's blood on the walls
no crueler price to pay
no harder
way to fall
There is a place for anger
things we won't
forgive
and I know it's not enough to face your shame
with
words you'll never live
But let's begin to look within
to
where the future lies
and find the strength to live
beneath
another country's skies
Another time, another
place
another country, another state of grace
You'll walk
beside me
I'll tell you no lies
and then you'll see another
country in my eyes
QKumba Zoo - Weeping
I knew
a man who lived in fear
It was huge, it was angry, it was drawing
near
Behind his house, a secret place
Was the shadow of the
demon he could never face
He built a wall of steel and flame
And
men with guns to keep it tame
Then standing back, he made it
plain
That the nightmare would never, ever rise again
But the
fear, the fire, and the guns remained
It doesn't matter
now
It's over anyhow
He tells the world that it's sleeping
But
as the night came round
I heard it slowly sound
It wasn't
roaring, it was weeping
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping
And
then one day the neighbors came
They were curious to know about
the smoke and flame
They stood around outside the wall
But of
course there was nothing to be heard at all
"My friends,"
he said, "We've reached our goal.
The threat is under firm
control.
As long as peace and order reign,
I'll be damned if I
can see a reason to explain
Why the fear, the fire, and the guns
remained."
It doesn't matter now
It's over anyhow
He
tells the world that it's sleeping
But as the night came round
I
heard it slowly sound
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping
It
wasn't roaring, it was weeping
Is there a light?
Can you
see the light shine?
I think I've found a way through (yes, I
found a way)
I know things have changed, but the fear remained in
me
Till I touched the light in you
Oh, say over, say
over...
Mango Groove - Hellfire
I remember moments
no sentiment or mystery
incidents in your life like pages in our
history
We are out on a date
Theres a roadblock late at night
and a military man
my skin is white, my lover's skin is
black,
can't he see we're together
but the military man doesn't
understand
That your love burns me like a hell fire ...
And
theres a song called hellfire
that everybody plays
striking
chords of memory
in so many different ways
Your love burns me
like a hellfire...
The Black eyed Peas - Where is the Love ?
What's wrong with the world, mama ?
People
livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world
addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you
trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we
still got terrorists here living in the USA
The big CIA, the
Bloods and The Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for
your own race then you only leave space to discriminate
And to
discriminate only generates hate and when you hate then you're bound
to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate and that's
exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just
to set it straight, take control of your mind and meditate
Let
your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all
People killin',
people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you
practice what you preach and would you turn the other cheek
Father,
Father, Father help us, send some guidance from above
'Cause
people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love ?
It
just ain't the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the
world insane
If love and peace is so strong
Why are there
pieces of love that don't belong
Nations droppin' bombs, Chemical
gasses fillin' lungs of little ones
With ongoin' suffering as the
youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone
So I
could ask myself really what is goin' wrong
In this world that we
livin' in people keep on givin'
in Makin' wrong decisions, only
visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy
brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover
The truth
is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth
then you never know love
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't
know)
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's
the love, y'all
People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt
and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And
would you turn the other cheek
Father, Father, Father help
us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me
questionin'
Where is the love ?
I feel the weight of the
world on my shoulder
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets
colder
Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got
us followin' our wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by
the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the
young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see
in the cinema
Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
?
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality ?
Instead in
spreading love we spreading animosity
Lack of understanding,
leading lives away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm
feelin' under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin'
down
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
Gotta
keep my faith alive till love is found
Now ask yourself Where
is the love?
People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you
hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach and would you
turn the other cheek ?
Father, Father, Father help us
Send
some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me
questionin'
Where is the love ?
