Protect the child
We are the indispensable nation
We stand tall, we see further, leading other countries into the future.
It was 1642, when you were a colony,
For the crime of sodomy
Thomas Maunger was killed.
And in 1944 George Stinney was 14,
A hard lesson you taught him,
His young voice was stilled.
And in 1998, three young men were slaughtered,
Their tears fell like water
But you took their young lives.
In the rest of the world no other land did so,
But they're queing on Death Row,
From their future deprived.
Are you ready to die?
Said the man with the gun in his hand.
Are you ready to die, 'cos the law of the jungle rules in this land?
Are you ready to die?
Well, you're going to die.
It was 1791 when the Eighth Amendment
Said every defendant
Had the right to life.
No cruel or unusual punishment
Regardless of their intent
Could be legal or right.
In 1995 the Children's Convention
Outlawed death or detention
For life from each child.
Fingers crossed, the United States signed it
Then said: Never mind it,
Their honour defiled.
And now in your land politicians
In the morning editions
Seek to lower the age:
Not 18 or 17 but 13,
When they'd roll down the curtain
In the death dealer's cage.
As long as each land seeks to murder
We'll progress no further
Than the rack and the stake.
But whether state killing is sanctioned
We all must take action
To protect the child.
We are the indispensable nation
We stand tall, we see further, leading other countries into the future.
