4th of June

Oh these blood soaked stones
Oh these bullet holes
Oh you caring father
Oh you weeping mother

Beijing China late spring 1989
Years after Mao's death and the end of the cultural revolution
Students and trade unionists take to the streets
And demand democratic participation and social justice
They occupy the gate of heavenly peace in the center of the city
This is their story

The iron rice bowl is broken
They beat it to coins
You're weeping on doorsteps
It's filling the void

We've made a thousand banners
And took them to the streets
Set tents up for the night shift
Were chanting for relief
Our bodies been the ocean
Our hearts been strong for weeks
This place now holds a million
We're far from being weak
The tigers shouting out
Bout tanks upon the streets
We're building up these walls
This is where we'll

And now they move in
And we see them
Forming lines
Pointing rifles at these young kids
Hou Dejian says that we should leave now
Or they will pin us to the stones

Will everything now perish
Under these crushing chains
Will people be remembered
For what they did this day
Is heaven's peace upon us
In these nights of guilt and shame
In Beijing's blood red streets

And now they move in
And cut us up in halves
And sweep away what's been left
Of our days
Our makeshift song
Is in decay
And in a sudden
These men put me to the grave