Tom Paxton - The d**h of Stephen Biko lyrics

Stephen Biko lay in shackles on a urine-sodden mattress In the solitary section, he was made to lie there naked Ah, ah! Given nothing he could wash with, exercise was not permitted Stephen Biko lay in shackles, compliments of Colonel Goosen Ah, ah, Africa! Port Elizabeth the prison, South Africa the nation Stephen Biko lay in shackles, though his hands and feet were swollen Ah, ah! In the close interrogation he was beaten like the others He was put back in the shackles, compliments of Colonel Goosen Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa! He was sick and he was dying, prison doctors came to see him When the cops spoke to the doctors they said, Nothing much is wrong here Ah, ah! Just a short stay in the infirmary, then it's back down to the shackles On a urine-sodden mattress, compliments of Colonel Goosen Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa! When they found him in a coma, when the man was clearly dying He was naked, but they stowed him in the back of a Land Rover Ah, ah! Though a hospital was near by it was no part of a prison So they took him to Pretoria - seven hundred fifty miles Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa! There was no one on the journey who could help the man survive it And the medical equipment was just one bottle of water Ah, ah! When they reached Pretoria prison they brought no medical records with them And they said, he might be faking, it's a hunger strike he's staging Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa! Stephen Biko in Pretoria was laid down upon a mattress On the stone floor of a prison, and he died his lonely d**h there Now, the country was South Africa; the victim, Stephen Biko The victim, all South Africa; the victim, all humanity At the d**h of Stephen Biko Ah, ah, Africa! Ah, ah, Africa!