Lyrics to my "Migrant Song" here: Also listen at
link

Followed by "The Exile" - listen at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wVf-4VWD7Y

© Jack Warshaw 2015

Migrant Song
A                                    
We fled our lands in time of war            
Time of famine, time of woe
Wearied souls and ragged kids   
On the road, no place to go   

B
We came uplifted to your shores
Over land, across the seas
Doors and hearts were opened wide
Back then you called us refugees
A
We built your cities, roads and railways
Worked your factories day and night
Healed your sick and worked your fields
Taught your kids to read and write

B
Our tongues were different, names also
Left behind the world we knew
Settled down and raised our kids
Who looked and sounded just like you

A
Now once again in time of terror
We walk and crawl, set sail and drown
Doors are closed and faces turned
And you call us migrants now

B
And still we try and still we’re crying
Still we die before our time
While your leaders blow and bluster
Ain’t it all an awful crime

A
See us now in all the papers
In the news and on your screens
Parents weeping, children drowning
Dressed in T shirts, shoes and jeans

B
You are blessed and we are broken
Ease our troubles, ease our pain
For the sake of human kindness
Open up your doors again


The Exile         © Jack Warshaw 2009 and 2018

Farewell to my friends, farewell to my family
Across the deep ocean, a stranger I’m bound
Don’t know what I’ll find there, how long I’ll be gone
Or if some day I’ll see you when I’m back again

        My parents are gone, my friends are all scattered
        No place in this country to call my home
        A new country calls me, adventure awaits me
        Maybe a new love to call me her own

But war knows no border, they come to conscript me
Resolved to resist them, I follow my code
I join with the angry, I join with the gentle
Who march to the ending of this long troubled road

        There’s many in struggle, there’s many hearts broken
        There’s many lives taken, but still we march on
        There’s many alike me, far over the water
        Working for good times when troubles are gone   

The bombing is ended, the guns fallen silent
My country’s divided, but peace is restored
And to my delight I find my true lover
And welcome a new life with one I adore

        But still there’s great dangers- our children must answer
        Terror and hunger, and life upon Earth
        Yet each day that dawns brings new hope and wonder
        Dreaming of freedom, and a time of rebirth

So now my song’s ended, I bid you good fortune
Sometimes a road ends in the place it begun
And if I may offer this compass to guide you
To see where you’re goin’- look back where you’re from

        So take up your place, march on with the many
       The times they may change but the prize is the same
        Freedom, good friendship and love never ending
        No power in creation can put out the flame