You came here
To sing protest songs
Your voice raised
With the liberal ways you hold true
But we’ll follow
The way of this land
No universalist is going to tell us what to do
So get out!
We don’t need you here
Not you, and none of your misguided righteousness!
If your western eyes
Don’t see fairness here
That’s just tough luck
Very little in the world is fair
If your mind
Can’t accept that
It’s your problem not ours
For your morality we don’t care
So get out!
We don’t need you here
Not you, and none of your misguided righteousness!
Your concepts
Just won’t work here
You’re destroying us with your misguided righteousness.
America
Such a wonderful land
Dedicated to truth
Justice and equality
American values
Work all right there
But over here
There’s an ever so different mentality
Your “oppressed” ones
See our land as theirs
And they mean to kill us
For your information
‘Cause America
Is big enough for everyone
But there’s no room here
For two separate nations
Your concepts
Just won’t work here
So don’t even try to apply your misguided righteousness
Well get out!
We don’t need you here
Not you, and none of your misguided righteousness!
©2023 The Hesh Inc.
This was written in 1988, after Joan Baez performed in Israel. Naturally, the press oohed and aahed over her appearance there, and gushed over her political statements as well as her choice of songs. But there was a small group of protesters at her Jerusalem appearance, telling her in no uncertain terms that her activism and sentiments were not welcome; among these protesters were people who had once been fans of her and her music in the 1960s, but since moved to Israel and adopted national-religious political beliefs. I was serving in the army at the time and could not get off my base for any of this, but had I been able to, I would have joined these protesters.
Musically, I based the lyrics on the music for Little Steven Van Zandt's "Trail of Broken Treaties." I was worried at the time, given Steve's left-leaning activism throughout the world, that he would join the anti-Israel chorus, and the song was partially fueled by this feeling. However, Steve is an astute observer of the world and is more than capable of filtering the truth from the flood of lies presented by that ilk, and has pushed back against calls for him to apply the false 'apartheid' label to Israel, to his immense credit. In any event, I never recorded or performed this song, beyond banging it out on my piano.