Lyrics Son of Plenty - Daniel Kahn, the Painted Bird

Son of Plenty

I am a son of plenty who was raised against this land
For fathers of my mothers had been wasted by its hand
Betraying here the warnings of my blood
So fly a flag of flaglessness, for if each flag was stained
With all the blood the helpless masses
Shed beneath their names, we’d all salute the color of the mud
So speak not of your righteousness for though you may be true
The tree of evil might just have its seed inside of you
Waiting for the proper time to bloom
And we the chosen children of this martyrdom must learn
That martyrs turn to murderers when tables have been turned
And history repeats its bloody tune
But though they say that history repeats what isn’t learned
I feel that there is fallacy within these simple terms
For history is more than just a stream
It is the very ocean into which our rivers flow
A myriad of motions going round us to and fro
And we are both its dreamers and the dream
So put a song of memory upon your broken tongue
And realize the melodies in bells already rung
Are in the very bells we may now hear
So let the broken words be learned, let the song be sung
Let the painted birds return, and let the bells be rung
Though not a note is new unto our ears