These Hands Songtext
von The Wakes

I take a look at you old man
As you sit in your chair
You could be almost anyone
For all I know or I care
But on your chest is a red star
From the days long gone by
From a proud fighting past
For a cause you held high

Son we set out from Glasgow
To the war-torn Spain
Brave socialist fighters
From a Scottish brigade
Not knowing our fate
Or what would befall
But for justice and freedom
We were proud to give all


And these hands have fought fascists
At Jarama in Spain
And my heart beats for justice
Until my dying day
I never set out for glory
But I had my part to play
In the fight against Franco
At Jarama in Spain

For five long weeks we′d waited
To be handed a gun
And they'd throw us into the fighting
Under Spain′s blazing sun

The fires of hell don't compare
To the battle that day
And in the heat of Jarama
Seven thousand were slain
But we ran out of bullets
And taken by Franco's men
To Tavallera de la Reina
And then moved on again

And the Calton had never
Seemed so far away
As I lay in my prison
At Salamanca in Spain


And these hands have fought fascists
At Jarama in Spain
And my heart beats for justice
Until my dying day
I never set out for glory
But I had my part to play
In the fight against Franco
At Jarama in Spain

Take a look at me now son
And the star in my breast
Some of us gave up everything
For the cause of the left
And the deeds that we′ve done
And the part that we played
In the fight against Franco
At Jarama in Spain

And these hands have fought fascists
At Jarama in Spain
And my heart beats for justice
Until my dying day
I never set out for glory
But I had my part to play
In the fight against Franco
At Jarama in Spain