A Kiss Behind the Barricades

From Hang a Flag in the Window by David Rovics (2002)

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For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below.

The Song

(467 words)

I don’t usually write about love songs because they don’t deal with issues in society. They don’t normally talk about specific people or events in history that have an impact on people’s lives. Sometimes, though, you can find a song like that. But today, I offer a different kind of love song.

It’s a song about having someone’s back, about taking care of another human being, a comrade, who shares your values and is willing to stand up for them.

The song is Behind the Barricades, written in 2001 by David Rovics: “I read a piece on the web somewhere that my beloved friend and comrade, Starhawk, wrote at that time, from [the G8 meetings in] Genoa [Italy], about the importance of taking care of each other after terribly traumatic experiences, such as large-scale police riots that involve a lot of your friends getting their bones broken and such” (Rovics).

Many protests around the world today are met with police who are armed with military-style uniforms, weapons, and vehicles. Rovics provides the listener with the image of a kind of war zone. Yet in the past as today, there are many times when this song could have been sung: from the French and Tokyo student protests of the 1960s, to protests in Egypt, Malawi, Brazil, India, and in cities like Bangkok, Beijing, Ferguson or Portland.

When they’re gunning down our comrades

And it seems the end is near

As they’re loading up the launchers

For the tear gas grenades

And then, there is a slight pause in the chaos, allowing people a chance to…

We can take off our bandanas

And kiss behind the barricades

wearing a bandana

A lot of other things go on at a protest, not only marching and chanting.

We will cry and we will sing

We will laugh and we will dance

The police regroup in order to attack again.

As they shout their marching orders

Beneath the helicopter blades

We will seize the moment

For a kiss behind the barricades

The purpose of the moments of joy while working together to make a change is to give us the courage to keep going, to never give up.

They will try to break our spirit

And at times they may succeed

But our love for the world

Is stronger than their greed

When the building is surrounded

And hope begins to fade

In my final hour

A kiss behind the barricades

As the movement grows

There will be hills and bends

But at the center of the struggle

Are your lovers and your friends

The more we hold each other up

The less we can be swayed

Here’s to love and solidarity

And a kiss behind the barricades

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VOCABULARY

traumatic トラウマ

riot 暴動

involve 巻き込む

vehicle 車両

gun down 銃撃

launchers 発射装置

tear gas grenades 催涙手榴弾

regroup 再編成

seize つかむ

greed 貪欲

be surrounded 包囲される

fade 萎む

struggle もがく

the less we can be swayed 揺れ動くことはない

solidarity 連帯

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SOURCES

Behind the Barricades. David Rovics - Singer/Songwriter. https://www.davidrovics.com/songbook/behind-the-barricades-2/ Accessed 5 August 2023.