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The Ballad Of Rivka And Mohammed by Leon Rosselson
The Ballad Of Rivka And Mohammed
Tuning: E A D G B E
Capo: 5th fret
The song is originally fingerpicked. I don't know how he plays it exactly, but this pattern works well:
Am E C/E G
e|--------2-------2| e|--------0-------0| e|--------0-------0| e|--------3-------3|
B|----1-------1----| B|----0-------0----| B|----1-------1----| B|----2-------2----|
G|------2-------2--| G|------1-------1--| G|------0-------0--| G|------0-------0--|
D|-----------0-----| D|-----------2-----| D|-----------------| D|----------0------|
A|--0--------------| A|--2--------------| A|--3--------------| A|-----------------|
E|-----------------| E|-----------------| E|-----------3-----| E|--3--------------|
[Verse]
Am
I was watching the news from Gaza
E
And I fell asleep on my chair
C/E
And when I awoke from my slumber
G
A young girl was standing there.
[Verse]
Am
She said, My name is Rivka
E
They killed me because I’m a Jew
C/E
I died in the ghetto of Vilna
G
In nineteen forty two.
[Verse]
Am
The ghetto was like a prison
E
They wouldn’t allow us to leave
C/E
Some said they were going to kill us all
G
We didn’t know what to believe.
[Verse]
Am
That day I wore my new red dress
E
My bubbe had made for me
C/E
And in that crowded ghetto
G
It made me feel proud and free.
[Verse]
Am
I looked up at the soldier
E
I looked him in the eye
C/E
I forgot to bow my head down
G
And so I had to die.
[Verse]
Am
He smashed my head with his rifle
E
Because I was too bold
C/E
I was killed in the Vilna ghetto
G
When I was seven years old.
[Verse]
Am
And then out of the darkness
E
A young boy’s gaze met mine
C/E
He said, My name is Mohammed
G
My country is Palestine.
[Verse]
Am
I’ve lived all my life in Gaza
E
And the only time I feel free
C/E
Is when I go down to the harbour
G
And feel the wind from the sea.
[Verse]
Am
That day I went with my cousins
E
We ran down to the beach to play
C/E
Then the soldier fired a shell at me
G
And blew my life away.
[Verse]
Am
They want to crush our spirits
E
They want us to be afraid
C/E
Locked up in the prison of Gaza
G
The prison that they have made.
[Verse]
Am
To them our lives don’t matter
E
They force us to live in a cage
C/E
I was killed on the beach in Gaza
G
At eleven years of age.
[Verse]
Am
They don’t think that we deserve freedom
E
Or belong to the human race.
C/E
Mohammed, my brother, said Rivka,
G
This world is a cold, cold place.
[Verse]
Am
Mohammed, my friend, my brother,
E
Let us leave this world of war.
C/E
Then each took the hand of the other
G
And then they were seen no more.
[Verse]
Am
But I saw spokesmen and politicians
E
Lining up to speechify
C/E
And every word was a hypocrite
G
And every word was a lie.
[Verse]
Am
I saw children still being slaughtered
E
The monster must have its fill
C/E
While the people with power sat on their hands
G
And supplied the weapons that kill.
[Verse]
Am
I weep for the people of Gaza
E
And they are weeping still
C/E
And I curse the ones who did nothing
G
And enable the monster to kill.
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