(O'Connor, Clayton, Simenon, Reynolds)
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[The extended version of "Famine", released in 1995, from the cd-single "Famine"]
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There is more in us than we know about. The famine, which happened 150 years ago.
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It? three lifetimes at most. Things that happen than were handed on from father
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to son, from mother to daughter, down to this day. They are within us now, and we
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don? deal with them. And it seems to me, this is what? interesting about a lot
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of Irish music now, that it is the carrier for this kind of feeling, and for this
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kind of emotion, that we have no other expression for it because politically we
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deny it, intellectually we deny it. Our literature ....... doesn? deal with this,
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our sentiment doesn? deal with this. But music, it? in the music, it seems to me.
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The culture can actually carry those things in al kinds of visible ways, in gesture,
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in movement, in language, in humour and in music.
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Okay, I want to talk about Ireland
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Specifically I want to talk about the "famine"
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About the fact that there never really was one
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There was no "famine"
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See Irish people were only allowed to eat potatoes
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All of the other food, meat, fish, vegetables,
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were shipped out of the country under armed guard
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To England while the Irish people starved
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And then in the middle of all this
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They gave us money not to teach our children Irish
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And so we lost our history
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And this is what I think is still hurting me
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You see we're like a child that's been battered
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Has to drive itself out of it's head because it's frightened
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Still feels all the painful feelings
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But they lose contact with the memory
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And this leads to massive self-destruction
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Alcoholism, drug addiction
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All desperate attempts at running
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And in it's worst form
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Becomes actual killing
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And if there ever is gonna be healing
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There has to be remembering
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And then grieving
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So that there then can be forgiving
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There has to be knowledge and understanding
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All the lonely people
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Where do they all come from
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All the lonely people
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Where do they all belong
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An American army regulation
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Says you mustn't kill more than ten percent of a nation
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'Cos to do so causes permanent "psychological damage"
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It's not permanent but they didn't know that
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Anyway during the supposed "famine"
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We lost a lot more than 10% of our nation
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Through deaths on land or on ships of emigration
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But what finally broke us is not starvation
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No it's use in the controlling of our education
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School go on about "Black 47"
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On and on about "The terrible famine"
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But what they don't say is in truth
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There really never was one
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All the lonely people
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Where do they all come from
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All the lonely people
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where do they all belong
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So let's take a look can we
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The highest statistics of child abuse in the EEC
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And we say we're a Christian country
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But we've lost contact with our history
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See we used to worship God as a mother
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We're suffering from post traumatic stress disorder
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Look at all our old men in the pubs
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Look at all our young people on drugs
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We used to worship God as a mother
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Now look at what we're doing to each other
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We've even made killers of ourselves
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The most child-like trusting people in the Universe
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And this is what's wrong with us
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Our history books the parent figures lied to us
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I see the Irish
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As a race like a child
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That got itself smashed in the face
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And if there ever is gonna be healing
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There has to be remembering
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And then grieving
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So that there then can be forgiving
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There has to be knowledge and understanding
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All the lonely people
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Where do they all come from
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All the lonely people
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Where do they all belong
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All the lonely people
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Where do they all come from
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(That I can tell you in one word)
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All the lonely people
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Where do they all belong
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And if there ever is gonna be healing
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There has to be remembering
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And then grieving
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So that there then can be forgiving
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There has to be knowledge and understanding
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And if there ever is gonna be healing
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| There has to be remember |
