Dinesh Moylan

They came in ships from over the sea
with a cargo of human waste and misery
they laid claim to the whole country
and they treated all things as their enemy

The people of the land were so shocked to see
these mad devils from across the sea
who kept their brothers tied with chains
made them work in the sun and the pouring rain

The men in chains cursed the day they'd come
slaved till they dropped in the alien sun
Prisoners in a land that would never be home
never have men felt more alone 

Chorus
These madmen across the sea had come
they marched to the beat of a different drum
they laid claim to the whole country
and they treated all things as their enemy

Soon they raped and pillaged far inland
in their ignorance and greed they couldn't understand
the beauty they destroyed with pick and axe
hatred and sweat and whips on backs

In a hundred years the invaders spread
they poisoned and murdered till resistance was dead
clearing whole forests just to grow their meat
the earth groaned loud beneath their feet

Then the missionaries came with their bibles in their in their hands
took away the children of the people of the land
told them they were full of evil and sin
tried to make them ashamed to have a black skin

Now the madmen sit in their houses in their towns
staring at their TVs as they shoot each other down
they don't see what's missing from their empty lives
they don't see their way of life can never survive

The people of the land are still deep in shock
should they listen to the madmen should they listen to the rock
the madmen bring their money and they try to hide
their theft of a country and their genocide

These madmen across the sea have come
they march to the beat of a different drum
they were my forefathers , yes I know
And it was only two hundred years ago

 

from Doing the dishes -1996