Colony
Damien Dempsey Lyrics

I sing the song of the colony
The singer is singing about the experiences of colonized people.

How many years and you're still not free
Despite years of struggle, the colonized people have yet to gain freedom.

And your mother cries and you ask god why
The colonized people's suffering is so great that they question the existence of God.

Greed is the knife and the scars run deep
The colonized people have been hurt deeply by the greed of their oppressors.

How many races with much reason to weep
There are many different races of people who have suffered under colonialism.

And your children cry
The cycle of suffering continues through the generations.

And you ask god why
The singer repeats that the colonized people are questioning the existence of God.

Annie, she came from Dunlavin Town
The artist introduces Annie, a person from the town of Dunlavin.

The TB came and killed her family all around
Annie's family died from tuberculosis.

Population booms
There were many people limited to just a few rooms.

Eleven in two rooms
11 people lived crammed into 2 rooms.

Katie she came from down Townsend street
The artist introduces Katie, a person from Townsend street.

Ten in a bed and no shoes on their feet
The children had to sleep in a crowded bed without shoes on their feet.

1916 came
This is a reference to the Easter Rising in 1916.

They played the patriots game
The Irish people rose up in a nationalist movement to fight against British colonial rule.

Freddy, he came from the Iveagh flats
The artist introduces Freddy, a person from the Iveagh flats.

Tenement slums and infested with rats
The area where Freddy lived was a poor, slum-like neighborhood with rat infestations.

Sleeping on damp straw
Freddy had to sleep on uncomfortable, damp straw.

Trying not to break the law
The singer implies that it is difficult to survive in these areas without resorting to crime.

Thomas, he came from Kilmaine in Mayo
The artist introduces Thomas, a person from Kilmaine in Mayo.

Semi starvation was the only life you'd know
Thomas had to live a life of semi-starvation due to lack of resources.

In a two room shack
Thomas lived in a very small, modest dwelling.

Then jailed in Letterfrack
Thomas was eventually jailed in Letterfrack, a reformatory school.

I look to the east, I look to the west
The artist is searching for answers everywhere.

To the north and the south, and I'm not too impressed
The singer is dissatisfied with what they find.

Time after time
Throughout history.

After crime after crime
After committing one atrocity after another.

They raped, robbed, pillaged, enslaved and murdered
Colonizers have committed many horrific acts against colonized people.

Jesus Christ was their god and they done it in his name
Many colonizers committed atrocities in the name of Christianity.

So he could take the blame if it's not all a game
The singer introduces the idea that Christianity and colonialism may be seen as a game.

With bible in one hand and a sword in the other
Colonizers used religion as a tool of oppression alongside violence.

They came to purify my land of my Gaelic Irish mothers
The colonizers came to oppress and destroy the native culture of the Irish people.

And fathers, and sisters and brothers
The colonizers aimed to eliminate entire families and communities.

With our own ancient customs, laws, music, art
The Irish had their own unique culture that was destroyed by colonialism.

Way of life and culture
The colonizers aimed to destroy everything that made the Irish people unique.

Tribal in structure
The Irish people had a complex, connected society that colonizers sought to break apart.

We had a civilization
The Irish had their own well-established culture and society.

When they were still neanderthal nations
The singer implies that colonizers were less advanced and human than the colonized people.

We suffer with the Native American, the Indian in Asia
The Irish people are in solidarity with other colonized people.

Aboriginal Australia
The artist includes Australia’s indigenous population in this conversation on colonization.

The African people with their history so deep
The artist includes Africa’s population.

And our children still weep and our lives are still cheap
Colonization continues to have lasting effects on the current day.

You came from Germany, from France, from England
The colonizers came from various nations.

And from Spain
Spain also participated in colonization, including in Ireland.

From Belgium and from Portugal
These two countries were also colonizers.

You all done much the same
Regardless of what country they came from, colonizers did the same things to colonized people.

You took what was not yours
Colonizers took what did not belong to them. Including the lives and land, of colonized people.

Went against your own bible
Colonizers did not practice the morals promoted by Christianity.

You broke your own laws
Colonizers did not adhere to the laws of their own nation.

Just to outdo the rival
Colonizers committed atrocities against others in order to become more powerful in the colonial world.

But did you ever apologize
The singer questions if colonizers have ever apologized for their atrocities.

For the hundreds and millions of lives
Colonizers have taken many lives through their actions.

You destroyed and terrorized
Colonizers destroyed lives, cultures and terrorized others.

Or have you never realized
The singer wonders if colonizers understand the extent of their actions and the pain they caused.

Did you never feel shame
The singer challenges colonizers to feel shame for their actions.

And find out who's to blame and why they were so inhumane
The artist encourages colonizers to investigate why they acted cruelly towards other humans.

And still they teach you in your school
There are many people who still teach children the false history of colonization.

About those glorious days of rule
Many people still speak positively about the days of colonization and how they brought civilization.

And how it's your destiny to be
These people assert that certain countries were destined to be better off than the rest of the world.

Superior to me
They imply that some people are superior to others based on race and status as colonizers or the colonized.

But if you've any kind of mind
The singer believes that people who are intelligent and compassionate cannot accept the lies about colonization.

You'll see that all human kind
All humans are a part of the same global community.

Are the children of this earth
We all share the same planet.

And your hate for them will chew you up and spit you out
Hate for others will lead to self-destruction rather than success or happiness.

You'll never kill our will to be free, to be free
The colonized people will never give up on their desire for freedom.

Inside our minds we hold, hold the key
The singer believes that the desire to be free is one of the most powerful things a person can hold within their mind.