Cambodia

It was the monsoon season of ’75
Nixon said we weren’t there, but he lied
There were bombs like rain from American planes
They didn’t understand it was a huge mistake

Pol Pot blamed it all on the capitalists
He said everyone who’s brainwashed will have to be killed
We’ll empty the cities, go back to the land
Start from year zero again

She was just eight years old, a barefoot skinny rice farmer’s kid
When the Khmer Rouge came like dragons dressed in black
The one with the scar on his cheek took her momma
She heard screaming
Then her sister Leah pushed her out through a door in the back
And she said...

Run Bo, and don’t look back
I’ll be right behind you, just stay on the track
Go the fisherman’s shack, I’ll meet you there
Find the river and follow it down to the sea
Find the river, and follow it down to the sea

Bo was waiting for Leah when the dragons came
But the fisherman took her in his boat through the waves
They drifted for weeks, with no food and no plan
Washed up on the beach in east Thailand

A UN man came and said, I’ll give you a new life
Bo closed her eyes, terrified
They put her in a bird in the hot, wet heat
It landed in the snow, she was frozen with grief

A family took her in, and loved her like their own child
But those dragons dressed in black still came at night
Bo studied hard, became a lawyer
And moved up to the city lights
With her sister Leah’s voice one step behind

She said Run Bo, and don’t look back
I’ll be right behind you, just stay on the track
Go the old fisherman’s shack, I’ll meet you there
Find the river and follow it down to the sea
Find the river and follow it down to the sea

Another UN man came and said, if you dare
I’m looking for a lawyer who can speak Khmer
The trials will begin now, thirty years late
Bo flew to Phnom Penh, in the hot wet rain

She stood in the court-room as they brought him in
Looked at his scar, and stifled a scream
Then led out the evidence of all of his crimes
And the judge said, lock him up ‘til he dies

She was just eight years old, a barefoot skiny rice farmer’s kid
Now Bo’s standing on the court steps wondering where to turn
She goes to the fisherman’s shack
And is laying flowers in the sea
When a voice behind her whispers, like a dream

Oh, little Bo, I knew you’d come back
I was right behind you but I fell on the track
I’ve been waiting for you because I knew one day
You’d find that river and follow it down to the sea
You would find that river and follow it back to me

I was alone and afraid, now my sister’s home, I’m free
I was alone and afraid, now my sister’s home I’m free