LyricMeaning

Strike a Blow Against the Empire
David Rovics

When the rich man on the TV said this world's mine,
When he asked which side you're on, told you to step in line,
When he gave his reasons for his war of conquest,
When he talked about your wallet, said it was in your interest,
Did you shrug your shoulders and do as you were told?
Hang a flag in your window and buy the goods that you were sold?
Or did you shut off his craven image and call the man a liar?
Did you strike a blow against the empire?

When they were rounding up your neighbors, you know the ones with darker skin
Clerks and teachers, engineers with names like Sami and Mazin,
When they were breaking down the doors and taking them away,
Holding them on secret charges hidden from the light of day,
What did you tell their children when you had a chance to meet?
Could you look them in the eye or did you walk past them on the street?
Could you say that you stood up when their lives were on the wire?
Did you strike a blow against the empire?

As the bombs were falling and the children lost their lives,
Lying broken on the pavement as the ambulance arrives,
As the soldiers opened fire with their heavy guns,
Could you hear the demonstrators hit the ground, see how their red blood runs?
What were you doing in those fateful times?
Did you raise your voice against these awful crimes?
Were you hiding in your bedroom when the situation was so dire?
Or did you strike a blow against the empire?

And when the time had come and the Reich was at your door,
When the fascist state was here and they brought home the war,
When the Gestapo was in the city and they had really taken power,
When there was nothing left to do here in the final hour,
Did you find a place to run to and hope to live a few more years?
When the slaughter was around you did you cover up your ears?
Or did you set your sights, take your aim and fire?
Did you strike a blow against the empire?


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Lyrics by David Rovics

  Alaska   All the Ghosts that Walk this Earth   Ballad of a Cluster Bomb   Battle of Blair Mountain   Behind That Gate   Behind the Barricades   Benton Harbor   Best Democracy Money Can Buy   Bomb Ourselves   Butcher for Hire   By the Time They Nuke DC   Cannabis Cafe   Children of Jerusalem   Contras, Kings and Generals   Crashing Down   Deadhead in Prison   Death of Rachel Corrie   DU   Evening News   From Kabul to Khartoum   Ghost Dance Lullaby   Global Warming Song   Glory and Fame   Good Kurds, Bad Kurds   Halliburton Boardroom Massacre   Hang a Flag in the Window   Here at the End of the World   Hiroshima   I Have Seen the Enemy   I Remember Warsaw   If I Die Tomorrow   In One World   International Terrorists   IRV   Jenin   King David   Korea   Love Song for the Cops   Make It So   Merry Christmas, Mr. Meyers   Miami   Minimum Wage Strike   Minnesota Gezstapo   Morning at Minnehaha   Moron   New Orleans   Next Attack   No One is Illegal   Occupation   One Night in Greece   Operation Iraqi Liberation (O.I.L.)   Oppositional Defiant Disorder   Outside Agitator   Palestine   Parking Lots and Strip Malls   Pirate Radio Song   Pirate Song   Polyamory Song   Pray for the Dead and Fight Like Hell for the...   Promised Land   Punk Rock Baby   Reichstag Fire   Resistance   Return   Rinky Dink Song   Roller Coaster Train   Shut Them Down   Sit Down to Piss   So Many Years Ago   Soldier on the Bum   Song for Ana Belen Montes   Song for Basra   Song for Big Mountain   Song for Boxcar Betty   Song for Eric   Song for Hugh Thompson   Song for My Broken Heart   Song for the BBB   Song for the ELF   Song for the SOA   Song for the SOA #2   Song the Songbird Sings   Stranded   T-Stop Cafe   Tennessee   Terror in the Skies   The Alligator Song   The Bicycle Song   The Bluegrass Fiddler   The Death of David Chain   The Flag Desecration Rag   The Jewel of Bucharest   The Key   The Lowell Factory Girl   The Saint Patrick Battalion   The Village Where Nothing Happened   The War is Over   Times Gone By   Too Proud to Beg   Trading with the Enemy   Trafalgar Square   Unrequited Love Song   Used to be a City   Vanguard   We Are Everywhere   We Just Want the World   Welcome to the European Union   What if You Knew   Who Will Tell the People

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