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about
I wrote the lyric in 2012 in response to the Occupy movement. At the time I thought of it as more of a poem than a lyric. In 2017 I included it in the Stanfield Major Lyric Challenge hosted by the Songwriters In The Kitchen forum. Jurgen Joarder took up the challenge.
lyrics
Tunisian Winds
Mohamed Bouazizi,
a poor man
who sold produce from a cart,
in a country bleeding from the open wound of corruption,
got up that morning
expecting to do nothing more
than support his family with the sales he could make
selling his fruits and vegetables.
He played the game like any Wall Street banker.
Buy low and sell high.
Unlike Wall Street he faced heavy regulation.
Unlike Wall Street he was physically
slapped
in the face.
Unlike Wall Street... Mohamed Buoazizi had no power.
He tried.
He tried to find some power.
He ran to the governor's office in an attempt to get his electronic scales back.
The doors were closed.
No one would listen.
"If you don't see me, I'll burn myself."
Mohamed cried.
This... was his only power.
He walked down the street.
He bought a can of gasoline.
He walked back to the governor's office
and stood in the middle of the street.
He screamed,
"How do you expect me to make a living?"
And then he set himself on fire.
Mohamed Bouazizi's last breath
was the birth
of Tunisian Winds.
Mohamed Bouazizi
was not one of life's winners.
He was only trying to support his family,
And live a decent life,
Like so many others.
But listen!
Because of Mohamed Bouazizi
something's growing.
Tunisian winds!
There's more to life
than being a winner
and so often the winners
they forget
that their world is built
on a multitude of shoulders,
a sea of blood,
an ocean of human sweat...
the shoulders, the blood, the sweat
of men and women
like Mohamed Bouazizi.
Tunisian Winds blew along the shores of the Mediterranean.
Tunisian Winds blew through Egypt and Libya, through Oman and Yemen.
Tunisian Winds blew through Morocco and Lebanon.
Tunisian Winds are blowing.
Tunisian Winds shook the banners in Zucotti Park.
Tunisian Winds are blowing.
Sometimes they seem to go still. But they are still blowing.
They just keep blowing.
Tunisian Winds
Tunisian Winds
Tunisian Winds
credits
released December 24, 2018
Music: Written and performed by Jurgen Joarder.
A hushed and low-lit EP from this Melbourne musician, where dreamlike melodies drift across a bed of tender guitar. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 19, 2023
