Cradle Of Civilisation Lyrics

Cradle Of Civilisation by Lowkey

• If my mother got angry or frustrated with me, she'd say..."oh, esh ked heluwa el hurriya"
• ...and the basic translation of that is "Oh,how beautiful is freedom"
• But where is freedom
• Close my eyes, I can still hear my ummi saying
• Where is our freedom?

• Oh, esh ked heluwa el hurriya

• This is for Baghdad, the place of my mothers birth
• The cradle of civilization, for what it’s worth
• The land I’ve never seen, culture I’ve never known
• Iraq is in my heart, my blood, my flesh and bones
• The air I’ve never breathed, fragrance I’ve never smelt
• The pride I never had, the nationality that I never felt
• Saddam was bad, are the American’s even more so?
• They made me groan like I was missing part of my torso
• But I never picked up a grenade in my garden
• I never saw people I love die starving
• I never saw my family die through many years of sanctions
• While the ruler’s family lived in palaces and mansions
• Never had a family member kidnapped for a ransom
• Never lost a friend to violence that was random
• Bombings, occupation, torture, intimidation
• A million dead people doesn’t equal liberation
• Close my eyes, I can still hear my ummi saying
• Listen!
• Where is our freedom?

• Oh, esh ked heluwa el hurriya

• Forget division based on ethnicity or religion
• Whether you Sunni, Shia, Kurdish or Christian
• Pain is still pain if you’re a person that’s missing
• We all deserve a life in this earth that we live in
• Is there enough words that can say
• How deeply Baghdad is burnin' today
• And it’s not about pity, hands out or sympathy
• It’s about pride, respect, honour and dignity
• Babies being born with deformities from uranium
• Those babies aren’t just Iraqi, they’re Mesopotamian
• What I view on the news is making me shiver
• Cause I look at the victims and see the same face in the mirror
• This system of division makes it harder for you and me
• Peace is a question, the only answer is unity
• So many dreams about this place that I’ve never seen
• The place my family had to leave in the 70’s
• Close my eyes, I can still hear my ummi saying
• Where is our freedom?

• Oh, esh ked heluwa el hurriya

• It rains white phosphorus in Fallujah
• This is for those that won’t live to see the future
• Sorry that I wasn’t there, Sorry that I couldn’t help
• I’m sorry for every tear, Sorry you’ve been put through hell
• Still I feel like an immigrant, Englishman amongst Arabs and an Arab amongst Englishmen
• Like I said they never gave me the culture
• But they did give me Kubdad Haleb,Hakaka and Dolma
• Ana isme Kareem
• Wa ohmre thalatha wa-’ishrun
• Umi min Baghdad, wa abuya min Dover
• And that’s the combination that I carry on my shoulders
• Still I rep, till my death, till they kill and steal my flesh
• From now all the way back to Gilgamesh
• Such a villianized and criticized nation
• You will always be the cradle of civilization
• Close my eyes, I can still hear my ummi saying
• Where is our freedom?

• In my sleep, in my dreams Motherland I can still feel you calling me
• In my sleep, in my dreams Motherland I can still feel you calling me
• In my sleep, in my dreams Motherland I can still feel you calling me
• I can still feel you calling me
• I can still feel you calling me

Lyrics taken from UndergroundHH, check out our full database of Lowkey Lyrics.