Famine Lyrics - Sinead Oconnor

Okay, I want to talk about Ireland 

Specifically I want to talk about the "famine" 

About the fact that there never really was one 

There was no "famine" 

See Irish people were only allowed to eat potatoes 

All of the other food 

Meat fish vegetables 

Were stipped out of the country under armed guard 

To England while the Irish people starved 

And then on the middle of all this 

They gave us money not to teach our children Irish 

And so we lost our history 

And this is what I think is still hurting me 

See we're like a child that's been battered 

Has to drive itself out of it's head because it's fightened 

Still feels all the painful feelings 

But they lose contact with the memory 

And this leads to massive self-destruction 

Alcoholism drug addiction 

All desperate attempts at running 

And in it's worst form 

Becomes actual killing 

And if there ever is gonna be healing 

There has to be remembering 

And then grieving 

So that there then can be forgiving 

There has to be knowledge and understanding 

An American army regulation 

Says you mustn't kill more than 10% of a nation 

'Cause to do so causes permanent "psychological damage" 

It's not permanent but they didn't know that 

Anyway during the supposed "famine" 

We lost a lot more than 10% of a nation 

Through deaths on land or on ships of emigration 

But what finally broke us was not starvation 

But it's use in the controlling of our education 

School go on about "Black 47" 

On and on about "The terrible "famine"" 

But what they don't say is in truth 

There really never was one 

So let's take a look shall we 

The highest statistics of child abuse in the EEC 

And we say we're a Christian country 

But we've lost contact with our history 

See we used to worship God as a mother 

We're sufferin from post traumatic stress disorder 

Look at all our old men in the pubs 

Look at all our young people on drugs 

We used to worship God as a mother 

Now look at what we're doing to each other 

We've even made killers of ourselves 

The most child-like trusting people in the Universe 

And this is what's wrong with us 

Our history books the parent figure lied to us 

I see the Irish 

As a race like a child 

That got itself basned in the face 

And if there ever is gonna be healing 

There has to be remembering 

And then grieving 

So that there then can be forgiving 

There has to be knowledge and understanding