Lyrics Tom Paxton – Who Speaks For Me

The army comes through
They curse us and trot us with guns
Sometimes they take us away
That’s the end of that

They go where they like in the house
Their eyes miss nothing of value
And may the Virgin go with you
If you’ve a gun or a knife

But who speaks for me
I, who have no voice
Who decides for me
It seems I have no choice

Do I live do I die
Will my family survive
Will the ones who lean down from the trucks with their guns
Allow us our lives

One question I’d ask if I dare
Of the ones who we never see
Guns and dollars are voices for you
But who speaks for me

Hmmmm-mmm

We are never asked
We are simply shown to the fields
We give of our youth and our blood
To the cotton and coffee

For the guards in their long, white houses
Raise the dust in their long black cars
They regard us with faces of stone
And they grind us like corn

But who speaks for me

Do I live do I die
Will my family survive
Will the ones who lean down from the trucks with their guns
Allow us our lives

One question I’d ask if I dare
Of the ones who we never see
Guns and dollars are voices for you
But who speaks for me

Hmmm

We are born like calves
We are held to be valuable things
The guards in the long white houses
Send to hear us sing

In the heavy air of the evening
While the blossoms float on the breeze
We pluck our guitars for survival
And we smile like fools

But who speaks for me
I, who have no voice
Who decides for me
For it seems I have no choice

Do I live do I die
Will my family survive
Will the ones who lean down from the trucks with the guns
Allow us our lives

One question I’d ask if I dare
Of the ones who we never see
Guns and dollars are voices for you
But who speaks for me

One question I’d ask if I dare
Of the ones who we never see
Guns and dollars are voices for you
But who speaks for me