David Rovics - The Return
The Return
Original Liner Notes
This recording is dedicated in the loving memory of Jihad, Muna and Kifah El-Ali. They were killed by mercenaries under orders from Ariel Sharon in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon in 1982 along with 2,000 others, mostly women and children. Never again.
return
david rovics
i can't help it.
i don't care how far you think the analogy extends itself.
when i see you making that bus driver climb up and down
on and off the roof of his bus
for your amusement
for hours in the hot sun
i think of how we once had to dance and sing for them
while they shot our parents.
when i see you keep that woman
and her husband
at the checkpoint
while she's in labor
and you stand there
listening to her scream
watching as she gives birth
on the back seat of a taxi
i think of the walls around our own ghetto
and how we had to crawl through the sewers
looking for rats to eat
while we could hear their children playing
on the other side.
when i see you crush that house
and kill that woman
and her baby
with your armored bulldozer
because they didn't have a permit
i think of the way we were once forced to leave our homes
at the point of a gun.
and when i hear your general say
that in order to deal with the intifada
you must learn from the tactics of another general
one mr. stroop
in warsaw
i think of how they bombed our buildings
shot us as we fell from the roofs.
and i remember
how we wished we could kill their babies, too.
and i feel sick.
sick of your displaced anger
sick of your self-deception
sick of your attempts to deceive the rest of the world
sick of your accusations of anti-semitism
sick of your occupation
sick of your apartheid state
sick of zionism.
because standing here
in auschwitz, birkenau and warsaw
i see jenin, jaffa and rafah.
and i think of our ancestors
the jewish palestinians
who spoke so eloquently
in their arabic language.
but the dead cannot speak.
and now i find myself
again behind the wall of a ghetto
standing with millions of other palestinians.
and i find myself shouting
thawra! thawra! hatta al-naser!
tomorrow in jerusalem!
al-awda
return.
With a project like this CD, many thanks are in order. In so many ways a project like this is so much bigger than the artist. Whether or not each listener is aware of it, what they are hearing is so much more than the songs themselves. It’s the sound of the instrumental accompaniment, from the sparse, ethereal sounds of the electric mandolin on “The Death of Rachel Corrie” to the full band on “Strike A Blow Against The Empire.” It’s the skill of the musicians playing those parts, the choices made by the producer, the ear of the engineer. So big huge thanks to Sean Staples, who lined up the studio, chose the musicians and the arrangements for the songs, played all kinds of instruments himself throughout the CD, managed to get me to play more or less in time, and otherwise guided the whole process along. The engineer at Wooly Mammoth Studios, Dave Westner, also played many other key roles throughout the project. I’d thank all of the stellar musicians individually, but I’ll try to get too repetitive here and leave that to the credits.
Major thanks must go to the good anarchists of Ever Reviled Records (www.everreviledrecords.com), without whom this CD wouldn’t have happened. They’ve been amazing, everything I’d hope for an indy label to be. Making the project possible, enthusiastically promoting it, and giving me total artistic freedom. They’re a fine bunch of folks, with great politics and a deep appreciation for the power of music to shake things up some.
And most of all, thanks must go to the rebels around the world who make life worth living and give me something to write about. Thanks to the fighters and the survivors. (Especially the ones that buy my CD’s and make it possible for me to sing songs for a living!)
Aim high, throw hard,
David
This CD was recorded in June, 2003 at Wooly Mammoth Studios in Boston, Massachusetts
Produced by Sean Staples
Engineered by Dave Westner
Mixed by Dave Westner and Sean Staples
Mastered by Dave Westner
All the songs were written by David Rovics (except “Resistance” – words by David, music by David Rovics and Allie Rosenblatt)
David Rovics: vocals and acoustic guitar, electric guitar on “Strike A Blow”
Sean Staples: electric guitar on “Reichstag Fire,” “Strike A Blow,” “After the Revolution,” “Occupation”; acoustic guitar on “Occupation”; acoustic and electric mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, percussion, harmony vocals
Mike Piehl: drums
Jabe Beyer: accordian, organ
Tim Kelly: dobro, lap steel
Dave Westner: electric guitar on “Occupation,” “Reichstag Fire,” “Song for Ana Belen Montes,” “Promised Land,” “Palestine”; acoustic slide on “Palestine,” bass on “Reichstag Fire”; percussion
Lou Ulrich: bass
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