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Song for Shaker Aamer

from Love and War by The Four Fathers

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    With full colour 8-page booklet by The Four Fathers' drummer Bren Horstead.
    The two bonus tracks are covers of Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' and a groovy, folky version of Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive.'
    For a live video of 'Masters of War', recorded in January 2023, see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt3F-Zqm3Cs

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about

'Song for Shaker Aamer' tells the story of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held in the US prison at Guantánamo, who has twice been approved for release - in 2007 and 2009 - and yet is still held. The song was used in the campaign video for We Stand With Shaker, a campaign to free Shaker, and to return him to his wife and his four children in London, which was established in November 2014 by Andy Worthington and Joanne MacInnes. The song features Shaker's voice, captured by a US news team as he shouted from his cell.
The centrepiece of the campaign was a giant inflatable figure of Shaker Aamer, which nearly a hundred MPs and celebrities were photographed with to show their support for Shaker.
See: westandwithshaker.org
and: westandwithshaker.org/tagged/inflatables
Also see: www.andyworthington.co.uk/category/shaker-aamer/
For the video, see: youtu.be/tWnfLn5qdT8
Update, Nov. 1, 2015: See The Four Fathers play an updated version of the song, reflecting Shaker's release on Oct. 30: youtu.be/QUu739fFEPs
Also see the 'unplugged' video: youtu.be/J2pOBobLX14
Update, July 2016: Also feel free to listen to - and buy if you wish - the 'Freedom Version' of 'Song for Shaker Aamer', recorded in May 2016:
thefourfathers.bandcamp.com/track/song-for-shaker-aamer-freedom-version-2

See this video of Andy Worthington playing the updated version of "Song for Shaker Aamer" at an event calling for the closure of Guantánamo in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 10, 2016: youtu.be/F_Ct5qbiuDw

See coverage of the release of 'Song for Shaker Aamer' on RT: youtu.be/qEVKPFBY3aE
And also see the coverage in the Morning Star: www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-a922-Song-for-Shaker-Aamer-aims-to-keep-case-alive#.VgMbUCglbS8

In November 2015, the influential US political website Shadowproof featured 'Song for Shaker Aamer' as its 'Protest Song of the Week.' Kevin Gosztola wrote: “[What] perhaps makes [the song] so enduring is how it pays tribute to the man who dissented and resisted from within Guantánamo all throughout his detention … Aamer’s words punctuate the song, giving it more gravitas and affirming why he is one of the more inspirational men to have been detained at Guantánamo.”
See: shadowproof.com/2015/11/02/protest-song-of-the-week-song-for-shaker-aamer-by-the-four-fathers/

The photo is from the launch of We Stand With Shaker on November 24, 2014 outside the Houses of Parliament. In the centre, campaign supporter Roger Waters (ex-Pink Floyd) with campaign founders and co-directors Joanne MacInnes and Andy Worthington (Photo: Stefano Massimo).

lyrics

Song for Shaker Aamer (Andy Worthington)

This is a song for Shaker Aamer
The last British man in Guantánamo
Stuck in a cell alone
Though the US says it wants to let him go

And half the men still held
Are in the same sad situation
Prisoners of political games
That ought to shame the nation

Chorus

Shaker Shaker
They chain your body but they cannot chain your mind
You tell truth to power
Even though you are behind the wire

Shaker Aamer is no terrorist
In fact he cares deeply for his fellow man
That's why he took his family
To help poor Muslims in Afghanistan

But he was sold to the US for money
And he's still held with no end in sight
He came to be seen as a leader
Because he stands up for the prisoners' rights

Chorus (repeat)

Shaker Aamer lived in London
Where he was given indefinite leave to remain
The government says it wants him back
But they're not trying hard enough that much is plain

And Shaker's family
They wait so patiently for him to come home
He hasn't seen his youngest son
Who was born the day he got to Guantánamo

Chorus (repeat)

credits

from Love and War, released September 21, 2015
Written by Andy Worthington

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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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