Patti Smith - Radio Baghdad Lyrics
Suffer not Your neighbor's afflictionSuffer not Your neighbor's paralysisBut extend your hand Extend your handLest you vanish in the city And be but a traceJust a vanished ghost And your legacyAll the things you knew Science, mathematics, thoughtSeverely weakened Like irrigation systemsIn the tired veins forming From the Tigris and EuphratesIn the realm of peace All the world revolvedAll the world revolved Around a perfect circleCity of Baghdad City of scholarsEmpirical humble Center of the worldCity in ashes City of BaghdadCity of Baghdad Abrasive aloofOh, in Mesopotamia Aloofness ran deepDeep in the veins of the great riversThat form the base Of EdenAnd the tree The tree of knowledgeHeld up its arms To the skyAll the branches of knowledge All the branches of knowledgeCradling CradlingCivilization In the realm of peaceAll the world revolved Around a perfect circleOh Baghdad Center of the worldCity of ashes With its great mosquesErupting from the mouth of god Rising from the ashes likea speckled bird Splayed against the mosaic skyOh, clouds around We created the zeroBut we mean nothing to you You would believeThat we are just some mystical tale We are just a swollen bellyThat gave birth to Sinbad, Scheherazade We gave birthOh, oh, to the zero The perfect numberWe invented the zero And we mean nothing to youOur children run through the streetsAnd you sent your flames Your shooting starsShock and awe Shock and aweLike some, some Imagined warrior productionTwenty-first century No chivalry involvedNo BushidoOh, the code of the West Long goneNever been Where does it lie?You came, you came Through the westAnnihilated a people And you come to usBut we are older than you You come you wannaYou wanna come and rob the cradleOf civilization And you read yet you readYou read Genesis You read of the treeYou read of the tree Beget by godThat raised its branches into the sky Every branch of knowledgeOf the cradle of civilizationOf the banks of the Tigris and the EuphratesOh, in Mesopotamia Aloofness ran deepThe face of Eve turning What sky did she seeWhat garden beneath her feet The one you drillYou drill Pulling the blood of the earthLittle droplets of oil for bracelets Little jewelsSapphires You make braceletsRound your own world We are weeping tearsRubies We offer them to youWe are just Your Arabian nightmareWe invented the zero But we mean nothing to youYour Arabian nightmareCity of stars City of scholarshipScience City of ideasCity of light CityCity of ashes That the great CaliphWalked through His ***** feet formed a circleAnd they built a city A perfect city of BaghdadIn the realm of peace And all the world revolvedAnd they invented And they mean nothing to youNothing to you NothingGo to sleep Go to sleep my childGo to sleep And I'll sing you a lullabyA lullaby for our city A lullaby of BaghdadGo to sleep Sleep my childSleep Sleep...Run Run...You sent your lights Your bombsYou sent them down on our city Shock and aweLike some crazy t.v. showThey're robbing the cradle of civilizationThey're robbing the cradle of civilizationThey're robbing the cradle of civilizationSuffer not The paralysis of your neighborSuffer not But extend your hand
