Two birds fly across the face of the moon,
above the barren fields and the empty ruins
Of the shelters of the massacred
which lie in wait for no-one
Shadows moving in the darkness,
a hungry prayer made in the silence
Of the refugees you leave behind
who only live on what you throw them
An orphan child walks alone
through the devastated countryside
No promise does his future hold
but for the comfort of a lie
A pie in the sky after sacrifice
if he’s fortunate enough to survive
The punishments that you devised
when you made his innocence a crime
You stand by the edge of a whirlpool,
watch the wise man perish along with the fool
In the tangled webs you weave with lies about the life hereafter
With machinery and technology
you control your slaves and enslave the free
You live by the sword and you sow discord
and your mouth is filled with laughter
Your weapons are magnificent and
your victories are sealed with blood
You kill them all, the bad with the good,
like the second coming of Noah’s flood
The rumbling crowd waits by the gates
from the Wailing Wall to the White House Lawn
You promise them Jerusalem
as you condemn them all to Babylon
Moon Rider, born to kill and foment pain
Moon Rider, to live and die in vain
Your fingers stretch from pole to pole
of the frightened world which you control
You corrupt everything you touch
and your hunger knows no limits
The sacred and the holy books you use
to dominate, sedate, and rule
Are but the tools of the trade of the slavery
you’ve made of all religion
While the pure in heart
which bloom in shadows of necessary solitude
Who know no words to speak but truth
are quickly crushed beneath your hooves
As your midnight armies swarm the globe,
prepare the stage for the final goal
Of machines of flesh, minds without will,
bodies without hearts or souls
You’ve been to the moon, you’ve explored the stars,
but still you remain blind towards
The terrified eyes of your victimized
which multiply with every hour
The preacher and the president, the scientist,
puppets dangled from your wrists
Sow seeds of hate and prejudice,
the foundations of your power
You took the children from their homes
and gained their trust with practiced skill
The smoke rose high from the furnaces
across the sky and it rises still
Above the highways, high-rises, shopping malls,
And the far-off fields of enforced starvation
Where the best are thieves and the worst
are diseased, are faithless and forsaken
Moon Rider, born to kill and foment pain
Moon rider, to live and die in vain
A bleak sun gleams in a cloudless sky
above the poisoned streams
and the seas sucked dry
Where the earth dies trampled
and voices cry in an endless night forever
Where the rich build prisons for the poor
and progress wields a ruthless sword
Where all that’s defenceless is destroyed,
is not mourned or scarce remembered
So silently you raise your hand
and a shadow falls across the land
Which splits the mother from her child
and delivers the lamb to its killer’s hand
As empty as the promises you inflict upon the pale and weak
You’re the ghost which haunts the sorrow
Of every mother who sees her child’s future and weeps
Moon Rider, born to kill and foment pain
Moon Rider, to live and die in vain
The haunting new record from Canadian folk artist Avi C. Engel bridges old and new traditions with a minimalist approach. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 24, 2024
Sanguine but uplifting, the Toronto singer-songwriter's "transfigured" folk songs ponder existential themes with grace and wonder. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 21, 2023
This collection of '90s work from folkie Patrick Regan and friends will appeal to fans of Fairport Convention and Pentangle. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 17, 2023
Montreal singer-songwriter Myriam Gendron's sophomore album, a mix of standards and originals, keeps living folk traditions vital. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 5, 2021
The British-Somali poet draws upon everything from leftfield folk to minimalist spoken-word, bound together by simple-yet-cutting wordplay. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 28, 2021