build
say what you like
say what you will
i got everything i need
right here
there ain’t nothing they can tell me
there ain’t nothing they can sell
that will make me take my mind
off what i’m doing here
because i’m on my way
i’m on my way now
nobody said it was going to be easy
the road is long
it’s going to be longer still
and when i lose my way
i just drop to my knees
i put my hands to the ground now
and i build
i got everything i need
i come from a long line
of people who work the land
i come from a long line
of people who use their hands
they taught me how to bind my fear
they taught me how to shed my skin
surrender my name
and blow in the wind
i’m on my way
i’m on my way now
nobody can say which way to go
because the road is made
with every step i take
when i lose my way
when i break
i just drop to my knees
i put my hands to the ground
i feel the earth breathe
and i build
i got everything i need
water wind and fire
earth and sunshine
weeds
kolabal
muyukutzi
we are invisible and we grow like weeds
we are invisible and we blow like seeds
we are invisible and we work like bees
we are the ones who make the honey
we are the one
batatik a cancun
batatik a cochabamba
batatik a tahrir
batatik a hamas
batatik a syntagma
batatik a londontown
batatik a wall street
batatik a cochabamba
soy payaso. ..
sur la route
je me rends sur la route
je m'abandonne sur la route
je t'entends sur la route
je t'attends sur la route
et je tombe
et je sonne
et je donne
et je ris
et je perds
et je pleure
et je meurs
et je vis
je me transforme sur la route
métamorphose sur la route
peau par terre sur la route
ventre au ciel sur la route
tout ce que j'ai connu, je l'ai oublié
entre ici et là-bas
hors du temps sur la route
la clémence sur la route
hors d’oubli sur la route
sous la pluie sur la route
jeu de chance sur la route
la confiance sur la route
jours et nuits sur la route
toute ma vie sur la route
entre ici et là-bas
moi je pense à toi
mic check .. .
sur la route translation
i go on the road
i surrender on the road
i hear you on the road
i wait for you on the road
and i fall
and i ring
and i give
and i laugh
and i lose
and i cry
and i die
and i live
i change on the road
metamorphosis on the road
skin on the ground on the road
belly to the sky on the road
all that i have known
i have forgotten
between here and there
out of time on the road
forgiveness on the road
outside of forgetting on the road
under the rain on the road
a game of chance on the road
trust on the road
days and nights on the road
all my life on the road
between here and there
i think of you
mic check .. .
no olvidado
no olvidado
say my love it’s been such a long time
since i’ve seen your face
and i can’t believe the world keeps turning
without you here by my side
and the trees are bare
the leaves will return one day
that’s what they say
and i’m still standing still
standing here
in the embrace of your shadow
no olvidado
no sé por qué
no sé a donde me voy
no sé por qué
no sé donde estoy
no sé por qué
no sé nada mas
no olvidado
guns of brixton
when they knock on your front door
tell me how you gonna come
with your hands on your head
or on the trigger of your gun?
when the law breaks in
tell me how you gonna go
shot down on the pavement
or waiting on death row?
they can crush us
they can bruise us
but they have to answer to
the guns of brixton
what you gonna do?
and the money is good
and your life you like it well
but surely your time will come
as in heaven as in hell
his name is oscar grant
working under the oakland sun
and his game was called surviving
like the end of harder they come
they realize they doing us wrong
still they want us to remain in the slums
because they got the power
we don’t have nowhere to run
try trust in their evil ways
with their tons of guns we afraid
to stand up and say
we are tired of living your way
inheritance
oh my baby
i’ve grown tired
watching waiting
as you’re decapitating
all the flowers i’ve grown
hours turned to
colors changing
don’t you know
i like to sit and watch things bloom
and there’s more than enough room
for you here by my side
enjoy the alchemy of springtime
slowly opening
your eyes heavy
heart full of stones
that knock against your chest
each breath you take
makes no sense
this strange inheritance
of broken glass and dragonflies
and tiny bones of a bird’s wings
who flew too far
you know these are
the very things
that make the sweetest sound
as they go tumbling around
your mind
all things changing
hold on
like i do
close stranger
don’t be afraid now
you know what you want
know what you need
there’s no danger
except maybe your mind’s tendency
to justify and amplify your fear
now you say that you want me
i don’t understand these words
oh so worthless
why don’t you put your lips
to a better purpose
and love me
love me like you do
just love me
love me like you want to
like you do
our time will be out in no time
no time like now
like you know
you know you want to
it’s not easy
i myself get kind of queasy
every time you come by
water from my eyes
it takes everything i know
when the ache comes
and the brakes go
not to tell myself i know
when i don’t know
my mind plays tricks
ain’t going to fix anything at all
i’m going to leave it behind
cause there ain’t no crime
if all i do is answer your call
and love you
love you like i do
i’m going to love you
love you like i want to
like i do
our time will be out in no time
no time like now
gone
baby you’re gone
you’re gone gone
baby you’re gone
and i can’t find you
baby you’re gone
you’re so long gone
and i must carry on
i got back from a journey in a tailspin
i was turned by the world
i didn’t know my name
i came home to find a great black hole standing
right in the place where you used to be
and it swallowed the sound
and it rained silence
time stood still as the world did spin
your footsteps are knocking in my head darling
but it’s only me here on empty
baby you’re gone
you’re gone gone
baby you’re gone
and i can’t find you
baby you’re gone
you’re so long gone
and i must carry on
you ducked out the back
for shame for shame
didn’t look into my eyes
so i could know the game
you ducked out the back
for shame for shame
with your footsteps still ringing in my brain
and now the tears come down in the strangest silence
it’s a monsoon out of season my dear
and as the truth comes down the water rises
it’s only me here on empty
it’s only me here on empty
metamorphosis
i sit here and wonder
what spell i’ve been under
as i open my eyes
everyone’s disappeared
it’s some kind of eerie
it’s some kind of strange
it’s some kind of silence
as things rearrange
i’m mystified
all that i know
all that i know
liquified and alone
metamorphosis
ain’t nothing i can do
what i thought was the earth was the water
and what i thought was water was air
as i stood there sinking
my lips they were drinking
your empty words
and i drowned in my thirst
this time
your absence is here
just like the sky
i’m a paper kite
that must fly
metamorphosis
ain’t nothing i can do
the seed wakes
the ground shakes
the cells ache
the growth makes
the heart break
the heart breaks
the heartbreaks
all the things i’ve lost along the way
were never meant to stay
if i should see you again
i don’t know if i will
if i should see you again
won’t be the same eyes
firewater
you are going to drown yourself tonight
you are going where no one can reach you
you are going to drown yourself tonight
with only the dead fish to greet you
i wish i could say
this will end another way
i wish i could say
i haven’t seen this all before
but you and that bottle
you and that bottle
firewater
it burns your mind
firewater
it leaves bitterness behind
and the room becomes strangely empty
and the silence around you bleeds
you can’t hear me calling
you can’t hear the crash and fall
of all the things around
that you pull down
on your way to hit the ground
breaking delicate things
with this firewater
it burns your mind
firewater
it leaves bitterness behind
¡cochabamba!
i’ve come a long way now
i walk around the world
and everywhere i go
i see the same lie
they want to divide the sky
i walk around the world
and everywhere i go
it’s the same lie
commodimodify
they plant the seeds of war
inside your mind
they plant the seeds of war
but i remind you
there’s no man
no seed no child
no weed that’s illegal
there’s no land
no air no water
that don’t belong to the people
a cochabamba me voy
soy callejera
i’ve come a long way now
there’s no man
no seed no child
no weed that’s illegal
but they steal and they bottle life
they sell it back to the people
no more no more
your endless war
no more no more
no more no more
electric gumbo radio
i got a letter today
from guantanamo bay
a message in a bottle
landed on my shore
it reads SOS
a cry from the darkness
this is how it hits
the iron fist
i was picked up off the streets
of my hometown
locked up in a cell since 2001
and nobody has told me
what i’ve done
still they break me everyday
on the barrel of their gun
you can call it questioning
call it necessity
you can call it anything
this is electric gumbo radio
calling you
[por la voluntad del pueblo]
i’m turning on the light
to shine on the madness
another bloody mess
people put to the test
one more vote
it’s a joke
the people spoke
but the crackdown
followed up by
the media turned black
the image of a girl on a sidewalk gets out
spreads around the world by virus
fire it ignites the wooden cages
around our hearts
to the people in the streets
we see you
they can try to shut us down
as we stand up to be counted
they can try to black this out
this is electric gumbo radio
calling you
[por la voluntad del pueblo]
[la historia es nuestra
y la hacen los pueblos—Salvador Allende]