Roger Waters - To Kill the Child

To Kill the Child

“To Kill the Child”    (Waters)

The child lay in the starlit night,
Safe in the glow of his Donald Duck light.
How strange to choose to end a life,
How strange to choose to kill a child.

Hoover, Blaupunkt, Nissan and Jeep
Nike, Addidas, Lacoste and cheaper brands.
Cadillac, Amtrak, gasoline, diesel,
Our standard of living, could this be the reason,
That we would choose to kill the child?
That we would choose to kill the child?

Allah, Jehovah, Buddah, Christ,
Confucius and Kali and red beans and rice.
Goujons of sole, ris de veau, ham hocks
Lox bagels and bones and commandments in stone.
The Bible, Koran, Shinto, Islam,
Prosciutto, risotto, falafel and ham.
Is it dogma, doughnuts, ridicule, faith
Fear of the dark, or shame or disgrace,
That we would choose to kill the child?
That we would choose to kill the child?

It’s cold in the desert,
And the space is too big.
The rope is too short,
And the walls are too thick.

I will show you no weakness,
I will mock you in song.
Berate and deride you,
Belittle and chide you.
Beat you with sticks,
And bulldoze your home.
You can watch my triumphant procession to Rome.
Best seat in the house,
Up there on the cross,
Is it anger or envy, profit or loss,
That we would choose to kill the child?
That we would choose to kill the child?

Take this child and hold him closely,
Keep him safe from the holy reign of terror.

Take this child, hold him closely
Take this child to the moral high ground,
Where he can look down on the bigots and bully boys,
Slugging it out in the yard.
This song was released by Columbia (US) & Sony (Japan) in 2004. It was one of two tracks on a single.