Bitter To The South

Lyrics

I think in the year of the refugee
Or maybe it was the year of the child or the aged
I sat with Tomas in a bar he was drinking with a women there
I asked him ‘Tell me all about your younger rebel days’

Well the way this women was there you could see she wasn’t messing
Thomas wasn’t missing much of that
He said, ‘You know this is such a small corner of the world we have here’
Somedays we thought we could conquer all

Then the so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
Then the so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
It takes the fruit out of the earth, it takes the food out of the mouth
The so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
Bitter to the south

‘We are the world’ was on the juke-box in the corner
There was a faded turtle poster up in Spanish on the wall
Tomas said, ‘Pretty beads and charity is all that they afford us
Well ain’t invited to the feast but end up paying for it all’

Then the so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
Then the so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
It takes the fruit out of the earth, it takes the food out of the mouth
The so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
Bitter to the south

There ain’t no year for the refuge
There ain’t no year for the child
There ain’t no year for the aged
There ain’t no year for the refuge
There’s just these years of the debt

But my lover and I, still we go where life leads us
Send a message to your masters
Tell them ‘Nothing’s over yet’

Then the so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
Then the so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
It takes the fruit out of the earth, it takes the food out of the mouth
The so cold wind from the north comes blowing bitter to the south
Bitter to the south

Song Description

The Sandinistas try to make sense out of the destruction of their government by the USA.

The tune came out of meeting and playing with the Bhundu Boys, from Zimbabwe, but the lyrics were drawn from that same visit to Nicaragua in 1990. Tomas in the song is Tomas Borge, one of the leaders of the Sandinistas. The following year I visited a friend who was working in El Salvador for the United Nations, and had the opportunity to go into the guerrilla occupied territory. We arrived in this very small village which was riddled with bullet holes and mortar craters. We went into the only little shop and lo and behold! on the wall: a ninja turtle poster. American culture even here. The song is about the relation between the 1st and 3rd worlds.

Versions

• AStudio Version (3:54)
• BStudio Version (4:08)

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