The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #173512   Message #4207933
Posted By: Joe Offer
04-Sep-24 - 02:29 PM
Thread Name: ADD:I was not born a refugee (Anthony John Clarke)
Subject: ADD:I was not born a refugee (Anthony John Clarke)
Well, maybe we can work out a transcription together.

DRAFT - I need help on this.


A conversation between Clarke and an Iranian neighbor, a qualified doctor, three children, relocated to Ukraine. He had a good life, but his house now lies in rubble. Three displaced children and a beautiful wife. He's also a classical pianist. And they're really struggling.

I WAS NOT BORN A REFUGEE
(Anthony John Clarke)

CHORUS
I would not hurt your family,
I never hijacked any plane.
I worked so hard, I learned your language,
You and me, my friend, we're just the same.

I want a comfortable house (?) every morning.
I just want to feel that I'm right (?)
I want a safe school for my three children
Perhaps just a cup of coffee with my wife.
I have to keep my head warm,
And a kitchen cupboard that ain't bare.
Healthy food upon my table
But most of all, I just wanna know that there's someone there.
CHORUS

I miss my old housecat that used to keep me company,
I want my girls for once to have new clothes;
I'd love a message from my two younger sisters,
'Cause where they are, God only knows.
I want a job that feeds my family,
I do not want a single thing for free;
And though I thank you for your kindness,
I was not born a refugee.
CHORUS


https://www.facebook.com/100034636363655/videos/pcb.1273605030470697/1064623155081768


This is a very powerful song.
Our friend, "Asia," came to the U.S. from southern Iraq when she was seven years old. She and her large family live together in a small house in a Sacramento suburb. She completed an engineering degree, and she now works as a highway bridge engineer and seems to be the primary support of her family. She's about thirty years old. She wears a hijab and drives a big pickup truck, and she oversees the work done by beefy male construction workers. She has little time to relax, but my wife takes her out hiking when she's free.
Asia's father died of cancer a couple weeks ago. I think he was 59. He wanted to be buried in Iraq, so two of his sons took him home and he was buried last week. They've all had an incredibly hard life. But we love Asia. This song makes me think of her.
-Joe-