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Close Guantanamo

by The Four Fathers

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about

"Close Guantánamo" is featured in a promotional video for the "Close Guantánamo" campaign that was released on November 10, 2016. The "Close Guantánamo" campaign was co-founded by lead singer Andy Worthington and the US attorney Tom Wilner in 2012, and the video, by drummer Brendan Horstead, features photos of some of the 500+ campaigners and celebrities who have stood with posters reminding President Obama of how many days he had left to close Guantánamo at 50-day intervals throughout 2016.
The photos are part of the Countdown to Close Guantánamo, an initiative that Andy launched with music legend Roger Waters on Democracy Now! in January, and the video was launched just after the US Presidential Election, to urge President Obama to do all he can to fulfill his long-unfulfilled promise to close the prison before he leaves office. We believe this mission has added urgency since the election of Donald Trump as the next president, because, on the campaign trail, Trump promised to keep Guantánamo open, to send new prisoners there, and to reintroduce torture.

On NPR, on Nov. 14, David Welna described "Close Guantánamo" as "a new anthem." He wrote: "One online video counting down the days Obama has left features a new anthem with the refrain 'Close Guantánamo, close Guantánamo.'"
See: www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/11/14/502007304/trump-has-vowed-to-fill-guantanamo-with-some-bad-dudes-but-who

See the video here: youtu.be/htQpwKQAY-M
And on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/CloseGuantanamo/videos/1256906154331829/
See "Close Guantánamo" here: www.closeguantanamo.org
See the 500+ photos received since January here:
www.closeguantanamo.org/Celebrity-photos
www.closeguantanamo.org/Public-photos-4
www.closeguantanamo.org/Public-photos-3
www.closeguantanamo.org/Public-photos-2
www.closeguantanamo.org/Public-photos
See Andy and Roger Waters here: www.democracynow.org/2016/1/22/pink_floyds_roger_waters_launches_campaign
And Andy speaking outside the White House here: youtu.be/bpOK7IhdbPY

lyrics

Close Guantánamo (Andy Worthington)

They said they were the worst of the worst
But they didn't know a thing about them
They said that they were captured on the battlefield
But most of them were bought for bounties

They took them to a place outside the law
In a bay that they stole from Cuba
They said they had no rights at all
As they tore up all their laws and treaties

You cannot claim to respect the law
And treat people this way
And after all the torture and abuse
It's time to make it go away

Chorus: Close Guantánamo, Close Guantánamo (x2)

When they didn't know what they wanted them to know
They introduced "enhanced interrogation"
They played them music as loud as it would go
In isolation and as sleep deprivation

And when they broke them and they made them lie
About themselves and their fellow prisoners
They had the nerve to hold their heads up high
And call this shame and this disgrace a success

You cannot claim to respect the law
And treat people this way
And after all the torture and abuse
It's time to make it go away

Chorus (repeat)

Obama promised to close the prison for good
On his second day in office
But Republicans resisted his plans
And he lacked the political will to do it

So as the years drag on and on
And the men still held get older and iller
Endless imprisonment without charge or trial
Is what it always was - a form of torture

You cannot claim to respect the law
And treat people this way
And after all the torture and abuse
It's time to make it go away

Chorus (repeat)

Line-up:

Andy Worthington (lead vocals, guitar)
Richard Clare (guitar, backing vocals)
Bren Horstead (drums and percussion)
Andrew Fifield (flute and harmonica)
Louis Sills-Clare (bass)

credits

released November 10, 2016
Written by Andy Worthington.
Recorded at Perry Vale Studios with Pat Collier in July 2016.

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about

The Four Fathers London, UK

Militant, melodic rock & roots reggae band, based in SE London, mostly playing original protest music. Journalist and activist Andy Worthington (lead vocals, electro-acoustic guitar), Richard Clare (electric guitar, vocals), Bren Horstead (drums, percussion), Andrew Fifield (flute, harmonica), Paul Rooke (bass). ... more

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