Cradle of Civilisation

I remember when I was growing up
if my mother got angry or frustrated with me
She'd say "oh, esh ked heluwa el hurriya"
And a basic translation of that
Is oh how beautiful is freedom
But where is freedom?

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
Close my eyes, I can still hear my ummi saying
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
But where is our freedom?

This is for Baghdad, the place of my mothers birth
The cradle of civilization, for what its worth
The land I've never the seen, culture I've never known
Iraq is in my heart, my blood, my flesh and bones
The air I've never breathed, fragrance I've never smelled

The pride I never had, the nationality that I never felt
Saddam was bad, and the American's even more so
They made me grow like i was missing part of my torso
But I never picked up a grenade in my garden
I never saw people I love die starving
I never saw my family die through many years of sanctions
While the rulers family lived in palaces and mansions
Never had a family member kidnapped for a ransom
I never lost a friend to violence that was random
Bombings, occupation, torture, intimidation
A million dead people doesn't equal liberation

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
Close my eyes I can still hear my ummi saying
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية(Listen)
But where is our freedom

Forget division based on ethnicity or religion
Whether your Sunni, Shia, Kurdish or Christian
Pain is just pain if a person is missing
We all deserve a life in this earth that we live in
Is there enough words that can say?
How deeply Baghdad is burning today
Its not about pity, hand outs, or sympathy
Its about pride, respect, honour and dignity
Babies being born with deformities from Uranium
Those babies aren't just Iraqi, they're Mesopotamian
What I view on the news is making me shiver
Because I look at the victims and see the same face in the mirror
This system of division makes it harder for you and me
Peace is a question, the only answer is unity
So many dreams, about a place that I've never seen
The place my family had to leave in the 70's
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
Close my eyes I can still hear my ummi saying
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
Yeah "But is our FREEDOM"

It rains white phosphorus in Fallujah
This is for those that won't live to see the future
Sorry that I wasn't there
Sorry that I couldn't help
I'm sorry for every tear
I'm sorry you've been put through hell
Still I feel like an immigrant
Englishman amongst Arabs, and an Arab amongst Englishmen
Like I said they never gave me the culture
But they did give me Kubbad Haleb, Hakaka and Dolma
Ana isme Kareem
Wa ohmre talatha wa ishreen
Umi min Baghdad, wa abuya min Dover
And thats the combination i carry on my shoulders
Still i rep, till my death, till they kill and seal my flesh
From now all the way back to Gilgamesh
Such a villianized and criticized nation
You will always be the cradle of civilization
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
Close my eyes I can still hear my Umi saying
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
أوي شكد حلوة الحرية
But is our Freedom

In my sleep, in my dreams
Mother land I can still feel you calling' me

In my sleep, in my dreams
Mother land I can still feel you calling' me
In my sleep, in my dreams
Mother land I can still feel you calling me
I can still feel you calling me
I can still feel you calling me