There was once a nation

It speaks for itself

There was once a nation

On the planet I call home

That promised to be

A new vision for hope

A new prospect

For the good of all men

For the good of the world

 

There was once a nation

On the planet I call home

That promised to be

A refuge for the damned

A refuge for freedom

For the love of being free

For the love of mankind

 

There is now a nation

On the planet I call home

That promises to be

A new vision for hope

A new prospect

For the good of all men

For the good of the world

 

There is now a nation

On the planet I call home

That promises to be

A refuge for the damned

A refuge for freedom

For the love of being free

For the love of mankind

 

There is now a nation

On the planet I call home

That cannot keep a promise

No matter how small

No matter how simple

A people oppressed

A people left behind

 

There is now a nation

On the planet I call home

That finds it acceptable

To accept discrimination

To accept injustice

Inspired by hate

Inspired by prejudice

 

There is now a nation

On the planet I call home

That is powered by greed

And the flesh of the sick

And the labour of the weak

Keeping wide the gap

Between the strong and the weak

 

There is now a nation

On the planet I call home

Where ignorance is power

Where knowledge is sin

Where the law of a few

Affects the lives of many

 

There is now a nation

On the planet I call home

That values a mere liquid

More than human life

More than the families

Of those who have died

In the name of their nation

 

There was once a nation

On the planet I call home

That would never have imagined

Their nation would ever become

The centre of global greed

Where the strongest survive

And the weakest are forgotten

 

There was once a nation

On the planet I call home

That would never have imagined

Their nation would ever become

The land it is today

In the name of their vision

Yet their vision forgotten

 

There was once a nation

On the planet I call home

That struggles to maintain

Its vision of the future

Its vision of humanity

For the good of mankind

For the good of the Earth