For teaching in my Anthro class tomorrow.
Ode to the International Debt
Lyrics and music by Bernice Johnson Reagon. Songtalk Publishing Co. 1985
Performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock from the album Live at Carnegie Hall (1988)
There is money going overseas to buy changes that will never come
Dollar backed Contras spill the blood of the people in small nations we won’t leave alone
There are Contras in Nicaragua, US trained death squads in El Salavador
I hear Jonah Savimbe holding hands with Apartheid is being lead to drink at the trough
USA sponsored violence create refugees all over the world
They poor into LA, DC and Arizona seeking sanctuary from our guns
Meanwhile, in the corporate boardrooms, they talk about the debt as if it could be paid
But money borrowed and loaned for guns you can’t eat and buildings you can’t live in and trinkets you can’t wear, it is a debt not owed by the people.
There is money going overseas to buy changes that will never come
Dollar backed Contras spill the blood of the people in small nations we won’t leave alone
