A Blog With No Name

One of the first things that come to my mind when speaking of poverty are some Queen lyrics from "Is This The World We Created?"

You know that every day a helpless child is born
Who needs some loving care inside a happy home
Somewhere a wealthy man is sitting on his throne
Waiting for life to go by

Maybe they aren't the most moving lyrics, but something in Freddie's voice on these lyrics strike a note in me. You can see a live performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM0g-7sZeSo

On the new album "The Cosmos Rocks" you can find the song "Say It's Not True" (video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzt40F4LC0s ), which was actually written for AIDS awareness and the Nelson Mandela concerts. In many a way it applies here as well, as you may know in many very poor countries AIDS is a huge problem, and in some of those, people even die from simple diseases, cause they can't get the cheapest of meds. Beautifully sang by Brian on the album version:

With the wonders of science,
All the knowledge we've stored,
Magic cocktails for life,
People just can't afford

With the fitting refrain, that I love to hear from Rodger

Say it's not true.
You can say it ain't right
So hard to believe
The size of the crime
...
It could be happening to you
It could be happening to - me

Because sometimes the stars are just not right, and you can get to be poor without doing anything wrong, so many people are born poor, and yet again they aren't bad people. Like Rodger says in "Revelations"

No sugar on the table
But the people stay sweet

Actually the whole song is just about the things we should be talking today, so I wil finish this post with a link to the video, and the (a bit shortened) lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4SlDfjJsZI

i went to the ukraine
they don't have much to eat
no sugar on the table
but the people stay sweet

i've been to the third world
they've got nothing but hope
through the starving and dying
sometimes somehow they cope

...
i've been to the u.s.
promised land of the free
with the workless and homeless
begging on every street

and right here in europe
far as can be seen
butter mountains and wine lakes
that much food it's obscene

...
now you can label me stupid
or naive with this song
but when children are starving
i know what's right and what's wrong

it was a revelation - a revelation -
a revelation to me