When oppressed becomes oppressor and the best becomes the worst, When the meek become the mighty and the blessed become the cursed, When the flame of faith is failing and the light of love has died, When the fruit of truth decays upon the tree of human pride.
Send me your huddled masses cried America the free, Then from Saigon to San Salvador The streets were filled with refugees.
The Jew who braved the ghetto wearing David's sacred sign, In the promised land with stick in hand, He beats the child of Palestine.
The Chinese peasant army faced the capitalist gun, Then their long march to freedom Ended in the Square of Tiannenmon.
The world expelled the man Saddam From a defenceless Kuwait, Then the torturers of Al Sabah sent hundreds to an unknown fate.
The Chetnik fought so bravely to fend off the fascist horde, Then his sons went raping Muslim girls On orders from a Serb warlord.
Will we ever learn from history, The memory fades so fast But we're destined to repeat the sins If we forget the past.
When oppressed becomes oppressor and the best becomes the worst, When the meek become the mighty and the blessed become the cursed, When the flame of faith is failing and the light of love has died, When the fruit of truth decays upon the tree of human pride.