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Prisoners of Belarus

from Rust Belt Ballads by Emmett Doyle

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Belarus has been ruled by Aleksandr Lukashenko as a dictator since he took power in 1994. The fraudulent 2020 elections saw him once again (to nobody's surprise) confirmed as the overwhelming victor despite the massive public support for the united opposition candidate. Protests broke out across Belarus, which were brutally suppressed with riot police, extrajudicial killings, and torture. Anarchists in Belarus were very active on the front lines of these protests. This song is for our imprisoned comrades in Belarus, as well as the anti-war and anti-dictatorship resistance in Russia.

The song is to the tune of, and draws on themes in, the traditional Belarusian song Kupalinka.

lyrics

Am E Am
Mother in your shawl of black,
G C
The moon shines on the water
Am G Em
But tonight where does the moonlight
C E Am
Fall upon your daughters?

My eldest’s gone into the city
The gardens there she’s weeding
Her hands are torn from rocks and thorns,
And her white fingers bleeding

My second listens from the prison
To the wailing siren
Hands in chains, her hands in chains,
She wears a wreath of iron

My youngest’s gone into the forest
Where wildflowers are growing
Black and red, their petals shed
And on the night winds blowing

On the winds the seeds are searching,
And rooting where they fall
Soon they’ll climb as wild vines,
Over the prison walls

credits

from Rust Belt Ballads, released September 1, 2023

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Emmett Doyle Minneapolis, Minnesota

Emmett is a working class rebel musician- a union carpenter, former river deckhand, raised on a farm in central Minnesota. With American country and blues and Irish traditional roots, he keeps the Long Memory going while singing about today's struggles. His work is rooted in social movements he's an active part of, from labor to defending the earth to fighting hate. ... more

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