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A SIGN FROM MANUS
Lachlan Irvine
[A]/[D][A][E]/[D][A]
[A] The wretched of the earth are on the move, [D] by land and on the [A] sea;
[E] Huddled masses on the borderline, [D] they're dying to live [A] free.
[A] All they're asking of you and me is to [D] lend a helping [A] hand.
'Cause [E] we've got boundless plains to share in a [D] safe and lucky [A] land.
But [D] there's a cruel wind arising, and it chills right to the [A] bone.
[E] The eyes are useless when the mind is blind
And the [D] heart is made of [A] stone.
[A] Love your neighbour, the good book says, In [D] words as plain as [A] day.
When you [E] see the poor wayfaring stranger You [D] can't just walk [A] away.
[A] There but for fortune go any of us, It's [D] just the luck of the [A] draw.
We [E] lose a piece of our humanity each [D] time we slam the [A] door.
[D] Whatever we choose not to see, that's what we will con-[A]-done.
[E] The eyes are useless when the mind is blind
And the [D] heart is made of [A] stone.
[A] Let the little children come to me, the [D] gospel words are [A] clear;
[E] Nobody's child deserves to live with [D] hopelessness and [A] fear.
[A] A young girl clings to her mother, as [D] tears run down her [A] face,
[E] She's asking "what could I have done, to be [D] kept in this awful [A] place?"
[D] For what we do to the least of these, one day we shall a-[A]-tone.
[E] The eyes are useless when the mind is blind
And the [D] heart is made of [A] stone.
You've got to [A] do unto others what [D] you'd want done to [A] you;
It's [E] easy enough to recite the words, [D] harder to make them [A] true,
When we [A] lock up the poor and helpless be-[D]-hind a barbed wire [A] fence,
[E] Call them by the name of "Detainee", and [D] steal their inno-[A]-cence.
[D] We'll be judged by deeds and actions, not by words a-[A]-lone.
[E] The eyes are useless when the mind is blind
And the [D] heart is made of [A] stone.
[E] The eyes are useless when the [A] mind is blind
And the [D] heart is made of [A] stone.
[E] The eyes are useless when the mind is blind
And the [D] heart is made of [A] stone.
I wrote this song when I saw a picture of a group of asylum seekers in Australia's off-shore detention centre on Manus Island,
Papua New Guinea, and one of them was holding a sign that said:
THE EYES ARE USELESS WHEN THE MIND IS BLIND AND THE HEART IS MADE OF STONE.
To hear my home-made recording of this song, go to:
A SIGN FROM MANUS
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