Cradle of Civilisation (feat. Mai Khalil)-Danny Gottlieb on drums

[ti:Cradle of Civilisation (feat. Mai Khalil)] [ar:Lowkey] [al:Soundtrack to the Struggle...] [by:] [offset:0] [00:00.00]Cradle of Civilisation (feat. Mai Khalil) - Danny Gottlieb on drums [00:08.84]If my mother got angry or frustrated with me she'd say [00:12.46] [00:15.04] and the basic translation of that is [00:17.82]"Oh how beautiful is freedom" [00:20.71] [00:23.20]But where is freedom [00:25.03] [00:34.24]Close my eyes I can still hear my ummi saying [00:36.85] [00:46.79]Where is our freedom [00:48.70]This is for Baghdad the place of my mothers birth [00:51.39]The cradle of civilization for what it's worth [00:54.48]The land I've never the seen culture I've never known [00:57.34]Iraq is in my heart my blood my flesh and bones [01:00.30]The air I've never breathed fragrance I've never smelled [01:03.14]The pride I never had the nationality that I never felt [01:06.05]Saddam was bad are the American's even more so [01:08.85]They made me grow like I was missing part of my torso [01:12.01]But I never picked up a grenade in my garden [01:14.90]I never saw people I love die starving [01:17.77]I never saw my family die through many years of sanctions [01:20.93]While the ruler's family lived in palaces and mansions [01:23.84]Never had a family member kidnapped for a ransom [01:26.75]Never lost a friend to violence that was random [01:29.77]Bombings occupation torture intimidation [01:32.67]A million dead people doesn't equal liberation [01:36.27] [01:45.19]Close my eyes I can still hear my ummi saying [01:49.35] [01:55.21]Listen [01:55.76] [01:58.60]Where is our freedom [02:00.03]Forget division based on ethnicity or religion [02:02.49]Whether you Sunni Shia Kurdish or Christian [02:05.65]Pain is still pain if you're a person that's missing [02:08.63]We all deserve a life in this earth that we live in [02:11.57]Is there enough words that can say [02:14.28]How deeply Baghdad is burning today [02:17.32]And it's not about pity hands out or sympathy [02:20.60]It's about pride respect honour and dignity [02:23.58]Babies being born with deformities from uranium [02:26.47]Those babies aren't just Iraqi they're Mesopotamian [02:29.55]What I view on the news is making me shiver [02:32.14]Cause I look at the victims [02:33.65]And see the same face in the mirror [02:35.17]This system of division makes it harder for you and me [02:38.45]Peace is a question the only answer is unity [02:41.51]So many dreams about this place that I've never seen [02:44.61]The place my family had to leave in the 70's [02:47.82] [02:56.96]Close my eyes I can still hear my ummi saying [02:59.95] [03:07.67]Where is our freedom [03:11.12] [03:11.65]It rains white phosphorus in Fallujah [03:13.85] [03:14.39]This is for those that won't live to see the future [03:17.24]Sorry that I wasn't there [03:18.91]Sorry that I couldn't help [03:20.38]I'm sorry for every tear [03:21.76]Sorry you've been put through hell [03:23.56]Still I feel like an immigrant englishman [03:26.34]Amongst arabs and an arab amongst englishmen [03:29.34]Like I said they never gave me the culture [03:31.95]But they did give me Kubdad Haleb Hakaka and Dolma [03:34.94]Ana isme Kareem [03:37.59]Wa ohmre thalatha wa-'ishrun [03:41.72]Umi min Baghdad wa abuya min Dover [03:44.23]And that's the combination that I carry on my shoulders [03:47.31]Still I rep till my death Till they kill and seal my flesh [03:50.31]From now all the way back to Gilgamesh [03:53.49]Such a villianized and criticized nation [03:56.09]You will always be the cradle of civilization [03:59.51] [04:08.90]Close my eyes I can still hear my ummi saying [04:11.45] [04:21.82]Where is our freedom [04:23.53]In my sleep in my dreams Motherland [04:27.22]I can still feel you calling me [04:29.48]In my sleep in my dreams Motherland [04:33.09]I can still feel you calling me [04:35.22]In my sleep in my dreams Motherland [04:39.07]I can still feel you calling me [04:42.10]I can still feel you calling me [04:44.26] [04:45.00]I can still feel you calling me