Tom Paxton - The Death of Stephen Biko lyrics
[Tom Paxton - The Death of Stephen Biko lyrics]
Stephen Biko lay in shackles
On a urine-sodden mattress
In the solitary section
He was made to lie there naked ah, ah!
Given nothing he could wash with
Exercise was not permitted
Stephen Biko lay in shackles
Compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah, ah, Africa!
Port Elizabeth the prison
South Africa the nation
Stephen Biko lay in shackles
Though his hands and feet were swollen
Ah, ah! In the close interrogation he was
Beaten like the others
He was put back in the shackles
Compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!
He was sick and he was dying
Prison doctors came to see him
When the cops spoke to the doctors they said
Nothing much is wrong here ah, ah!
Just a short stay in the infirmary
Then it's back down to the shackles
On a urine-sodden mattress
Compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!
When they found him in a coma
When the man was clearly dying he was naked
But they stowed him in the
Back of a Land Rover ah, ah!
Though a hospital was near by it
Was no part of a prison
So they took him to Pretoria
- seven hundred fifty miles ah, ah, Africa!
Ah, ah, Africa!
There was no one on the journey who
Could help the man survive it
And the medical equipment was just
One bottle of water ah, ah!
When they reached Pretoria
Prison they brought
No medical records with them
And they said, he might be faking
It's a hunger strike he's staging
Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!
Stephen Biko in Pretoria was laid
Down upon a mattress
On the stone floor of a prison
And he died his lonely death there
Now, the country was South Africa the victim
Stephen Biko
The victim, all South Africa the victim
All humanity at the death of Stephen Biko
Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!
On a urine-sodden mattress
In the solitary section
He was made to lie there naked ah, ah!
Given nothing he could wash with
Exercise was not permitted
Stephen Biko lay in shackles
Compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah, ah, Africa!
Port Elizabeth the prison
South Africa the nation
Stephen Biko lay in shackles
Though his hands and feet were swollen
Ah, ah! In the close interrogation he was
Beaten like the others
He was put back in the shackles
Compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!
He was sick and he was dying
Prison doctors came to see him
When the cops spoke to the doctors they said
Nothing much is wrong here ah, ah!
Just a short stay in the infirmary
Then it's back down to the shackles
On a urine-sodden mattress
Compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!
When they found him in a coma
When the man was clearly dying he was naked
But they stowed him in the
Back of a Land Rover ah, ah!
Though a hospital was near by it
Was no part of a prison
So they took him to Pretoria
- seven hundred fifty miles ah, ah, Africa!
Ah, ah, Africa!
There was no one on the journey who
Could help the man survive it
And the medical equipment was just
One bottle of water ah, ah!
When they reached Pretoria
Prison they brought
No medical records with them
And they said, he might be faking
It's a hunger strike he's staging
Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!
Stephen Biko in Pretoria was laid
Down upon a mattress
On the stone floor of a prison
And he died his lonely death there
Now, the country was South Africa the victim
Stephen Biko
The victim, all South Africa the victim
All humanity at the death of Stephen Biko
Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!