Are you like me? Do you have songs that you feel just sound better when they are live. Songs that you are merely indifferent about when hearing them on crystal clear recording? But live… That’s when the song truly shines. That’s how I feel about this song.
This is a live performance of Arcade Fire’s “Haiti”. Written by Regine, the woman singing it, it is a tribute to the country of her mother and father. A country she herself was never able to go to until last year. A country where her grandfather was kidnapped and murdered by the hostile regime in place. A country her family fled for fear of their lives. This is a song about that country and how she longs to know it.
Regine penned a letter published today in The Guardian (A leading newspaper in the UK) about her strong feelings about the recent events in Haiti, it is a great read and I wanted to pass it along.
I don’t usually post lyrics to songs, but in this case I did because I find them moving and also because they are mixed with French which I have translated for you in red.
Haïti, mon pays, (Haiti my country)
wounded mother I’ll never see.
Ma famille set me free. (My family set me free)
Throw my ashes into the sea.
Mes cousins jamais nés (My cousins never born)
hantent les nuits de Duvalier. (haunt the nights of Duvalier)
Rien n’arrete nos esprits. (Nothing stops our spirits)
Guns can’t kill what soldiers can’t see.
In the forest we lie hiding,
unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
in the river we will go.
Tous les morts-nés forment une armée, (All the dead born form an army)
soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
bring about our second birth.
Haïti, never free,
n’aie pas peur de sonner l’alarme. (unafraid to sound of alarm)
Tes enfants sont partis, (your children are leaving)
In those days their blood was still warm
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