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A song for Muktar
Rick Ford
Oh my name is Muktar,
I think I'm fourteen years old
The militia is my family,
Mogadishu is my home
I lost both my parents
When a shell came through our house,
Adopted by a warlord,
Just another hungry mouth
I'll be your teenage gun for hire,
I'll man the checkpoint well,
'Cos thought I'm only little,
I'm used to being in hell
So I.
Smoke a little weed
Chew a little cat
Take a little cash,
Get by like that,
With my AK by my side
You know I'm not afraid to die
You may think I should be in school
But that's not the life for me,
'Cos I love what I'm doing,
I fight for peace and liberty
Our city once was beautiful
Finest you've ever seen
With snow white shining buildings
And seas of turquoise green
But now it's scarred and ravaged
By 13 years of war
With warlord fighting warlord
And I don't really know what for
But when I'm stoned and high on weed,
Hey I don't really care
'Cos I live riding on our technical
With the sea breeze in my hair
And I.
Smoke a little weed
Chew a little cat
Take a little cash,
Get by like that,
With my AK by my side
You know I'm not afraid to die
And everyone pays me respect
They treat me like a man
And I feel like a warrior
With my AK in my hand
One day I gave a friend a wake up call
You woke me up too soon he said,
Then he took out his pistol
And he shot me through the head
You're just a stupid kid he screamed
As my life ebbed away
And 'cos I woke him up too early
I'll not see another day
I used to.
Smoke a little weed
Chew a little cat
Took a little cash,
I got by like that,
'N with my AK by my side
I was not afraid to die
NOTES. 'Cat' is a type of drug. A 'technical' is a type of vehicle. An AK is AK47. I was inspired to write 'A Song for Muktar' after watching a B.B.C television programme entitled 'World at War' in 2004 and I am indebted to journalist and filmmaker Elisabeth C Jones for telling the story of this little boy's life. Every time I play the song I like to think that his name lives on.
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