Biography:
Leon Rosselson (born 1934) is a well-respected English songwriter and writer of children's books. Launching his career in the early '60s, he was a member of folk revivalist group The Galliards. Later, in 1962, he was a founding member of The Three City Four. He came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, in the BBC's topical TV programme of the early 1960s, That Was The Week That Was.
For much of his career Rosselson has toured Britain and abroad
Read more on Last.fm
Other songs:
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The Ballad of Rivka and Mohammed
Leon Rosselson
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Capo 5
A beautiful song about the occupation of Palestine from Jewish British songwriter Leon Rosselson
The song is originally fingerpicked. I don't know how he plays it exactly, but this pattern works well:
Am E C/E G
e|--------2-------2| e|--------0-------0| e|--------0-------0| e|--------3-------3|
B|----1-------1----| B|----0-------0----| B|----1-------1----| B|----2-------2----|
G|------2-------2--| G|------1-------1--| G|------0-------0--| G|------0-------0--|
D|-----------0-----| D|-----------2-----| D|-----------------| D|----------0------|
A|--0--------------| A|--2--------------| A|--3--------------| A|-----------------|
E|-----------------| E|-----------------| E|-----------3-----| E|--3--------------|
[Verse]
Am
I was watching the news from Gaza
E
And I fell asleep on my chair
C/E
And when I awoke from my slumber
G
A young girl was standing there.
[Verse]
Am
She said, My name is Rivka
E
They killed me because I’m a Jew
C/E
I died in the ghetto of Vilna
G
In nineteen forty two.
[Verse]
Am
The ghetto was like a prison
E
They wouldn’t allow us to leave
C/E
Some said they were going to kill us all
G
We didn’t know what to believe.
[Verse]
Am
That day I wore my new red dress
E
My bubbe had made for me
C/E
And in that crowded ghetto
G
It made me feel proud and free.
[Verse]
Am
I looked up at the soldier
E
I looked him in the eye
C/E
I forgot to bow my head down
G
And so I had to die.
[Verse]
Am
He smashed my head with his rifle
E
Because I was too bold
C/E
I was killed in the Vilna ghetto
G
When I was seven years old.
[Verse]
Am
And then out of the darkness
E
A young boy’s gaze met mine
C/E
He said, My name is Mohammed
G
My country is Palestine.
[Verse]
Am
I’ve lived all my life in Gaza
E
And the only time I feel free
C/E
Is when I go down to the harbour
G
And feel the wind from the sea.
[Verse]
Am
That day I went with my cousins
E
We ran down to the beach to play
C/E
Then the soldier fired a shell at me
G
And blew my life away.
[Verse]
Am
They want to crush our spirits
E
They want us to be afraid
C/E
Locked up in the prison of Gaza
G
The prison that they have made.
[Verse]
Am
To them our lives don’t matter
E
They force us to live in a cage
C/E
I was killed on the beach in Gaza
G
At eleven years of age.
[Verse]
Am
They don’t think that we deserve freedom
E
Or belong to the human race.
C/E
Mohammed, my brother, said Rivka,
G
This world is a cold, cold place.
[Verse]
Am
Mohammed, my friend, my brother,
E
Let us leave this world of war.
C/E
Then each took the hand of the other
G
And then they were seen no more.
[Verse]
Am
But I saw spokesmen and politicians
E
Lining up to speechify
C/E
And every word was a hypocrite
G
And every word was a lie.
[Verse]
Am
I saw children still being slaughtered
E
The monster must have its fill
C/E
While the people with power sat on their hands
G
And supplied the weapons that kill.
[Verse]
Am
I weep for the people of Gaza
E
And they are weeping still
C/E
And I curse the ones who did nothing
G
And enable the monster to kill.
The Ballad of Rivka and Mohammed
Leon Rosselson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capo 5
A beautiful song about the occupation of Palestine from Jewish British songwriter Leon Rosselson
The song is originally fingerpicked. I don't know how he plays it exactly, but this pattern works well:
Am E C/E G
e|--------2-------2| e|--------0-------0| e|--------0-------0| e|--------3-------3|
B|----1-------1----| B|----0-------0----| B|----1-------1----| B|----2-------2----|
G|------2-------2--| G|------1-------1--| G|------0-------0--| G|------0-------0--|
D|-----------0-----| D|-----------2-----| D|-----------------| D|----------0------|
A|--0--------------| A|--2--------------| A|--3--------------| A|-----------------|
E|-----------------| E|-----------------| E|-----------3-----| E|--3--------------|
[Verse]
Am
I was watching the news from Gaza
E
And I fell asleep on my chair
C/E
And when I awoke from my slumber
G
A young girl was standing there.
[Verse]
Am
She said, My name is Rivka
E
They killed me because I’m a Jew
C/E
I died in the ghetto of Vilna
G
In nineteen forty two.
[Verse]
Am
The ghetto was like a prison
E
They wouldn’t allow us to leave
C/E
Some said they were going to kill us all
G
We didn’t know what to believe.
[Verse]
Am
That day I wore my new red dress
E
My bubbe had made for me
C/E
And in that crowded ghetto
G
It made me feel proud and free.
[Verse]
Am
I looked up at the soldier
E
I looked him in the eye
C/E
I forgot to bow my head down
G
And so I had to die.
[Verse]
Am
He smashed my head with his rifle
E
Because I was too bold
C/E
I was killed in the Vilna ghetto
G
When I was seven years old.
[Verse]
Am
And then out of the darkness
E
A young boy’s gaze met mine
C/E
He said, My name is Mohammed
G
My country is Palestine.
[Verse]
Am
I’ve lived all my life in Gaza
E
And the only time I feel free
C/E
Is when I go down to the harbour
G
And feel the wind from the sea.
[Verse]
Am
That day I went with my cousins
E
We ran down to the beach to play
C/E
Then the soldier fired a shell at me
G
And blew my life away.
[Verse]
Am
They want to crush our spirits
E
They want us to be afraid
C/E
Locked up in the prison of Gaza
G
The prison that they have made.
[Verse]
Am
To them our lives don’t matter
E
They force us to live in a cage
C/E
I was killed on the beach in Gaza
G
At eleven years of age.
[Verse]
Am
They don’t think that we deserve freedom
E
Or belong to the human race.
C/E
Mohammed, my brother, said Rivka,
G
This world is a cold, cold place.
[Verse]
Am
Mohammed, my friend, my brother,
E
Let us leave this world of war.
C/E
Then each took the hand of the other
G
And then they were seen no more.
[Verse]
Am
But I saw spokesmen and politicians
E
Lining up to speechify
C/E
And every word was a hypocrite
G
And every word was a lie.
[Verse]
Am
I saw children still being slaughtered
E
The monster must have its fill
C/E
While the people with power sat on their hands
G
And supplied the weapons that kill.
[Verse]
Am
I weep for the people of Gaza
E
And they are weeping still
C/E
And I curse the ones who did nothing
G
And enable the monster to kill.
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