born in 1917 in leidenstadt

Jean-jacques Goldman

CHORUS:
If I'd been born in 1917 in Leidenstadt
On the ruins of an old battle site
Would I have been a better or worse man
Had I been born a German?

Cradled in hate, ignorance and humiliation
Nourished by dreams of retaliation
Would I have had an offbeat conscience
A simple teardrop amidst raging torrents

If I'd grown up around the dockhands of Belfast
Amidst the hate, the guns and the blast
Could I have found the force to help betray a friend
Think my own way to the end

If I was born white and rich in Johannesburg
Where fear and power's the only word
Could I have heard the cry of change blow in the wind
Never be the same again

Well never really know what we hold inside
Behind all those fronts, we hide
The soul of a hero, a conspirator or a torturer
Either for the worse, or for the better
Would we be fighters or like sheep in a flock
If it meant more than just talk!

CHORUS

And hopefully we may be spared from having to decide
For a long time what shall be our side