Music Downloads: River of Tears

River of Tears is the one song that has some genesis in my own Modern Studies teaching experience.   The song relates to the use of child soldiers in some parts of Africa, and the 'crimson harvest' refers to the hacking off of children's arms and legs to prevent them taking part in civil wars.   The victims are not only those who have been mutilated, but also the child soldiers themselves, whose loss of innocence is all too often hard to cope with in later life.   Suicide is common, a favoured method being jumping from city bridges into rivers below.

Another day dawns, and the sky is red
At the heart of the earth the sky is red
As the childrenare playing, the day they dread
Comes true in the fields
Their flesh is on fire
Consuming their dreams
Just another town dead...

Here come the farmer, ready and keen
His sharpened blade is ready and keen
He's good at his job, he's hungry and lean
He'll bring in the crop
His aim will be true
He'll do as he's told
He's only fourteen

Hands up if you're here for the crimson harvest
Shake a leg if you're not quite ready to die
And as you stand on the bridge and pray the waters wash your sins away
Look down on the river of tears as you cry

Up on the parapet, contorted in pain
Stands the young farmer, he's got nothing to gain
One small step to freedom will loosen the chain
From a life without promise, a life full of blame
He seeks absolution
He's seeking in vain

Hands up if you're here for the crimson harvest
Shake a leg if you're not quite ready to die
And as you stand on the bridge and pray the waters wash your sins away
Look down on the river of tears as you cry