"Not in my name"

The JOH tour through Germany is called "Nicht in unserem Namen" (Not in our names).

Before the speakers started to tell their stories in Wiesbaden, Gabi Uhl sang a song of her new CD "Alive on death row - volume 3". The title of the song is "Not in my name".

Gabi is a member of the German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and - among other things - gives concerts against the death penalty in which she does not only sing but also talks about her personal experiences like for example witnessing two executions.



Not in My Name
Words & music by John McCutcheon

You see the plane in the distance
You see the flame in the sky
See the young ones running for cover
See the old ones wondering why
They tell us that the world is a dangerous place
We live in a terrible time
But in Hiroshima, New York or in Baghdad
It’s the innocent who die for the crime

Chorus

Not in my name
Not in my name
Not in my name
Not in my name

The witnesses watch through the window
Their hearts locked in horror and pain
At the man lying strapped to a gurney
As the poison is pumped through his veins
And I’m wondering who are the prisoners
Who holds the lock and the key
Who holds the power over life, over death
When will we finally be free?

Chorus
Bridge

We stray and we stumble in seeking the truth
And wonder why it’s so hard to find
But an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
Leaves the whole world toothless and blind

Through the ages I have watched all your holy wars
Your jihads, your Crusades
I have been used as inspiration, I’ve been used as an excuse
For the murder and the misery you’ve made
I thought I made it clear in the Bible
In the Torah and in the Koran
What is it in my teaching about loving your enemies
That you people don’t understand?

Chorus