Nancy Kerr 2017
A celebration of the women, including her mother, who participated in the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp where as many as 70,000 women protested the siting of U.S. nuclear missiles at the British air base in 1981-87. Written for protest song collaboration “Shake the Chains”.
Shake the Chains: Through the Trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdHnM0_VZ3Y
Chorus: Farewell the fire, likewise the freeze Farewell the ash upon the breeze That carrion day we’ll chase away When peace comes marching through the trees As a child I always knew that on the wind some poison blew That gathering clouds would be our shroud for a falling fire was coming Upon barbed wire around the base our mothers twined our baby lace They linked their arms like lovers’ charms to bind all life in common Now tyrants stir our fear for greed and even fair men pay no heed Behind the trees and below the seas, our rulers hoard their weapons And it is no curse to now begin to see the bones beneath the skin Don’t turn away from judgment day for another storm does threaten Upon barbed wire around the base our mothers twined our baby lace They linked their arms like lovers’ charms to bind all life in common Now see them fly upon the air, my baby’s clothes, my lover’s hair That carrion day I’ll bear away with the strength of many women