Santiago - David Rovics

As I looked out my window

At the clear blue sky

At the planes that flew so low

At the smoke that rose so high

The air filled up with dust

That blackened out the sun

And the politicians went on

About the new day that had begun

And when I looked at my calendar

Somehow I knew it would be so

It was on this day in Santiago

Less than thirty years had passed

And how clearly I remember

What the city had been like

Before that day in September

There were doctors on the sidewalks

Helping those in need

Students in the barrios

Teaching children how to read

There were milk trucks in the shanties

Driving to and fro

On this day in Santiago

I could tell you about the rallies

The whole city in the street

The President was speaking

And we all were on our feet

Allende was the future

Destitution was the past

The city was in motion

And things were changing fast

Just how fast they were changing

Only Kissinger could know

On this day in Santiago

We’d been striving for a world

Without a single cardboard shack

Where each woman, man and child

Could have the basic things they lack

It was socialism by demand

Elected free and fair

A society without need or greed

Where everybody got their share

And then came Uncle Sam

With dictatorship in tow

On this day in Santiago

Anaconda Copper

And Nixon got their dream

A country torn apart

Ruptured at the seam

A fascist coup was what they wanted

And that’s just what they’d get

When they sent down from Fort Benning

General Pinochet

Lady Liberty

Hung her head down low

On this day in Santiago

They dropped bombs on La Moneda

With jet planes from DC

They killed five thousand people

In our city by the sea

A reign of terror started

When they cut off Victor’s hands

The rivers clogged with bodies

And our blood drenched the sands

And I remember wondering

Which way future winds might blow

On this day in Santiago