emma's revolution

7 - Ministry of Oil

Rick Burkhardt (The Prince Myshkins)

Holly writes: On the Sing Out The Vote Tour in Ohio 2008, I had the great pleasure of meeting The Prince Myshkins. Andy and Rick are such lovely men, incredibly bright and creative. This is one of the songs they sang on the tour. Our version is quite different from theirs. I encourage you check out their music.

once again we hear the word “precision”
from people who think bombs can be precise
we hear “the price of fighting terrorism”
from people who don’t have to pay that price
we see a cloud where there should be a college
we see a reservoir reduced to soil
and though they now admit that the marketplace was hit,
they didn’t hit the Ministry of Oil

what they call a military target
is sacred to all soldiers brave and loyal
you can bomb a shrine, you can bomb a power line,
but you never bomb the Ministry of Oil

once again the mayhem they call “warfare”
is followed by the melee they call “peace”
tearing through the stores and the museums
while the US Army played police
how much do you suppose that artwork sold for
as their last remaining food began to spoil
the situation’s bad, but no place in Baghdad
is safer than the Ministry of Oil

the medicine has all been confiscated
and soon there won’t be water left to boil
and one might wonder who’d think up names like “Oil for food”
when what they mean is “Ministry of Oil”

if there’s any logic in the universe
if the future isn’t just absurd
if justice is precise instead of infinite
if freedom is enjoyed and not endured
I’ll take my class out someday on a field trip
past the shells of Shell and Uniroyal
and as they’re roaming round the musty White House grounds,
I’ll say “Kids, this was the Ministry of Oil”

I’ll say “Kids, it was a peaceful revolution,
there weren’t any battles to embroil,
and I’m very glad to tell that not one person fell
it’s an aspect of our history that every child knows well
how we failed to avoid one building being destroyed,
but at least it was the Ministry of Oil.”