Song for Day 74 - "Santiago Dawn" by Bruce Cockburn

Songwriter Bruce Cockburn.

Day 74 - "Santiago Dawn" by Bruce Cockburn

      Bruce Cockburn wrote the hauntingly beautiful "Santiago Dawn" in September of 1983, ten years after the original 9/11 tragedy ended democracy in Chile for a generation.  Thousands were killed, including popular songwriter Víctor Jara and many desaparecidos whose bodies were dumped in the Mopocho River or the Pacific Ocean.  Poet Pablo Neruda spent his last few days watching the dismantling of everything he'd accomplished in his distinguished diplomatic career.  His funeral was a silent rallying point for the democratic resistance, inspiring DPK's elegy.  We remember what Victor Jara wrote on a piece of paper and hid in his shoe, hours before his murder:

Songwriter Víctor Jara.

 How hard it is to sing
when I must sing of horror.

...so many moments of infinity
in which silence and screams
are the end of my song.

    - Víctor Jara's last verse, from "Estadio Chile"

      In a 1988 plebiscite the country voted "No" to continuing the regime of U.S. puppet caudillo Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte.  Along with international pressure from governments, businesses and activists, political songs played a key role in the struggle for right to vote.

The (campaign) results were poor. In a few days nobody could ignore the evident technical superiority of the "No" campaign: superior in argumentation, superior in filming, superior in music. Its signature tune, with the slogan "La alegría ya viene" ("Joy is coming")  as its main element, was so cheesy that even the "Yes" campaign creatives hummed it during their brainstorming sessions.

— Sergio Fernández, Minister of the Interior

Henry Kissinger with Augusto Pinochet.

      America's situation is not quite as dire [yet].  Granted, dark forces control our statehouses, House, Senate and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, while threatening the Supreme Court--our last bastion of common sense.  Nevertheless, the nation is experiencing a Santiago Dawn of its own, as represented by the unity of the Democratic Party.  We see it in the pairing of Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, of Tom Perez and Keith Ellison.  We see it in the return of the Left in our media and discourse.  We see it in the polls.

      Will it last? 

      It must. 

      Else, we will disappear.

Lyrics:

Something moves in the still dark hours
Sunday in a shanty town
Eyelids open two by two
But not a single light goes on
 

Tension builds as the only sound
Is the quiet clash of metal and boots
And now and then an order barked
At the bullies in the drab green suits

Military thugs with their dogs and clubs
Spreading through the poblacion
Hunting whoever still has a voice
Sure that everyone will run

They come in strong but it's not that long
Before they know it's not so easy to leave
To keep a million homeless down takes more
Than a strong arm up your sleeve

At the crack of dawn the first door goes down
Snapped off a makeshift frame
In a matter of minutes the first rock flies
Barricades burst into flame

First mass rings through smoke and gas
Day flowers out of the night
Creatures of the dark in disarray
Fall before the morning light

Bells of rage -- bells of hope
As the ten-year night wears down
Sisters and brothers are coming home
To see the Santiago dawn

Santiago sunrise
See them marching home
See them rising like grass through cement
In the Santiago dawn

I got a dream and I'm not alone
Darkness dead and gone
All the people marching home
Kissing the rush of dawn

Santiago sunrise
See them marching home
See them rising like grass through cement
In the Santiago dawn