Written On The Forehead - PJ Harvey

People throwing dinars at the belly-dancers

In a sad circus by a trench of burning oil

People throw belongings;

a lifetime’s earnings

Amongst the scattered rubbish and suitcases on the sidewalk

Date palms and orange and tangerine trees

With eyes that’re crying for everything

(Let it burn! Let it burn, burn, burn…)

(Blood, blood, blood, blood and fire)

So I talked to an old man by the generator

He was standing on the gravel by the fetid river

He turned to me and then surveyed the scene

Said, «War is here in our beloved city.»

(Let it burn! Let it burn, burn, burn…)

(Blood, blood, blood, blood and fire)

Some jumped in the river and tried to swim away

Through tons of sewage;

they’d written on their foreheads

Date palms and orange and tangerine trees

With eyes that’re crying for everything

(Let it burn! Let it burn, burn, burn…)

(Blood, blood, blood, blood and fire)

Let it burn, let it burn!

Let it burn, let it burn!

Let it burn, let it burn!

Let it burn, let it burn!