Song Description

A song about contemporary outrages against immigrants

Lyrics

I remember the scenes from old black and white movies
Of foreign police state ruled streets
When black booted, angry anonymous figures
Would kick at the doors with their feet

Then sudden light and a door slowly opens
On people too frightened to stand
The demand from the thugs was always the same
Show me your papers, old man!

Show me your papers, old man!
Show me your papers, old man!
Prove to me that you should be allowed to survive here
Show me your papers, old man!

I know these same dreams haunted my grandpa
When the Czar sent his men through the town
And his family was forced to hide in the sewers
From the soldiers who tried to chase them down


Now on the TV I see shadowy masked figures
Haunting American towns
Looking for those whose paperwork
Is lost or incomplete

I wonder the stories that will pass in their families
If they have one wherever they land
About the times when masked figures shouted
Show me you papers old man!


Chorus