Patti Smith premiered two new protest songs in London in September 2006. Journalist Louise Jury, writing in The Independent, characterized them as "an emotional indictment of American and Israeli foreign policy". ‘Qana’ (available on Patti Smith’s official website) was about the Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday July 30th 2006 that killed 54 civilians, mostly children. ‘Without Chains’ (also available from Smith’s official website) is about Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish citizen who was born and raised in Germany, held at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp for four years.
Jury's article quotes Smith as saying:
“I wrote both these songs directly in response to events that I felt outraged about. These are injustices against children and the young men and women who are being incarcerated. I'm an American, I pay taxes in my name and they are giving millions and millions of dollars to a country such as Israel and cluster bombs and defense technology and those bombs were dropped on common citizens in Qana. It's terrible. It's a human rights violation.”
There's no one
in the village
not a human
nor a stone
there's no one
in the village
children are gone
and a mother rocks
herself to sleep
let it come down
let her weep
The dead lay in strange shapes
Some stay buried
others crawl free
baby didn't make it
screaming debris
and a mother rocks
herself to sleep
let it come down
let her weep
The dead lay in strange shapes
Limp little dolls
caked in mud
small, small hands
found in the road
their talking about
war aims
what a phrase
bombs that fall
American made
the new Middle East
the Rice woman squeaks
The dead lay in strange shapes
little bodies
little bodies
tied head and feet
wrapped in plastic
laid out in the street
the new Middle East
the Rice woman squeaks
The dead lay in strange shapes
Water to wine
wine to blood
ahh Qana
the miracle
is love
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