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.
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