A world war was raging,
like the Earth had never seen
A whole generation lined up in trenches
with killing machines
But aside from a few islands
and some mountain peaks
The pandemic killed more people
in just 24 weeks
No one knows where it began,
speculation's gone on for years
The trenches of Europe
is where the deadly strain appears
From packed trains and ships and hospitals,
around the globe it spread
This war strain of the virus
that left so many dead
The death toll was unequal,
but barely anywhere
Was left untouched –
though the greatest share
of dying was reserved
for the poorest, densest colonies
of the empires and their wars
that created this disease
If you have a couple hours,
then do something with me
conduct a little research
into your family tree
If you look into it, it won't take long,
quite likely you will find
In 1918, you left an ancestor behind..
The pandemic knew no borders,
it went from the front lines
Which had increased
its deadliness, as if by design
It circled the whole planet,
so many people died
They dug mass graves everywhere
and put your relatives inside
A world war was raging,
like the Earth had never seen
A whole generation lined up
in trenches with killing machines
But aside from a few islands
and some mountain peaks
The pandemic killed more people
in just 24 weeks..
like the Earth had never seen
A whole generation lined up in trenches
with killing machines
But aside from a few islands
and some mountain peaks
The pandemic killed more people
in just 24 weeks
No one knows where it began,
speculation's gone on for years
The trenches of Europe
is where the deadly strain appears
From packed trains and ships and hospitals,
around the globe it spread
This war strain of the virus
that left so many dead
The death toll was unequal,
but barely anywhere
Was left untouched –
though the greatest share
of dying was reserved
for the poorest, densest colonies
of the empires and their wars
that created this disease
If you have a couple hours,
then do something with me
conduct a little research
into your family tree
If you look into it, it won't take long,
quite likely you will find
In 1918, you left an ancestor behind..
The pandemic knew no borders,
it went from the front lines
Which had increased
its deadliness, as if by design
It circled the whole planet,
so many people died
They dug mass graves everywhere
and put your relatives inside
A world war was raging,
like the Earth had never seen
A whole generation lined up
in trenches with killing machines
But aside from a few islands
and some mountain peaks
The pandemic killed more people
in just 24 weeks..
inviata da giorgio - 9/4/2020 - 09:33
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Lyrics & music by David Rovics
Album: Viral Solidarity
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims, including some 675,000 Americans. The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain. Citizens were ordered to wear masks, schools, theaters and businesses were shuttered and bodies piled up in makeshift morgues before the virus ended its deadly global march..