Can anyone hear me    
over 
I am a country in distress 
a state of emergency 
over 
and under protest   arbitrary arrest 
a rescue mission     in critical condition 
an act of sedition    without contrition 

Can anyone help me??
over 
a hungry nation   a demonstration 
without work       without food 
without a shout of truth 
is not what I was paid for 
is not what I was made for 
is not a promise I can keep 
without a dream to sleep on 
without a dream to sleep on 

Every day  
I crawl on my knees 
a labor of love 
birthing the stillborn hopes  
the blood sweat and tears 
the growing pleas  
of countless workers 
of bygone years     
while you   and your pagan bureaucracies 
are sowing   seeds of dissension 
our pensions in suspension 
Can I ask why?  Why? 

Can you hear me? 
Every day I die a little 
over 
While unemployment 
Is on the rise 
we are a sinking ship 
In your dictatorship 
your sea of despair  
your I don’t care 

While unemployment is on the rise 
we break our backs to 
carry this heavy load    the flame 
of growing  outrage   old age   and doom 
just Another day on the garbage heap 
just Another day    of in-Seine 
to suffocate under the stench  
of your cheap perfume  
your cheap perfume 

So  Save me   Save me 
from your social reforms—
the one I supported until I aborted 
the way you went about it 
do not doubt it   I will shout it 
Your umpteen years of political norms 
your rainy day that I was born  
to pay for     over and  
over   

I AM the dark before the dawn 

Can you hear me 
Over!  and over 
Do you care? 
Is   anyone   there?