Bikindi
by Tom Flannery copyright 2004
song notes here
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What if I used this song to hate
would you still dance around the room?
sweeping away the dirt as though
your feet were like a broom
what if I used this song as a call to arms
on the airwaves here and now
would you pick up the knife or the gun
if I told you how?

What if I used this song to hide
behind the words I say
if I said "after all, it's just a song"
would you look the other way?
what if I used this song to excuse
the things that I've been told
from the day that I was born
until the day that I grew old

Bikindi is my name
Bikindi is my name
love will prevail over hatred
only the killing will remain

What if I used this song to burn
your house down to the ground
and where your children once looked to the sky
they now stare at the ground
what if I used this song to kill
would you pay for my third car?
maybe you just feel like dancing
or would just love to be a star

Bikindi is my name
Bikindi is my name
love will prevail over hatred
only the killing will remain 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Notes
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Known as the "Rwandan Michael Jackson"....Rwanda pop singer Simon Bikindi is accused of using his music to incite hatred of Tutsis in the run-up to the 1994 genocide which claimed an estimated one million people. He is also accused together with other top military and civilian officials of helping train Interahamwe militia with the sole aim of eliminating Tutsis. The indictment details a number of killings that it says Bikindi played a leading role in. It also says that he "consulted" with government officials before releasing his lyrics. Even after  the interim government had fled to the former Zaire, Bikindi continued to compose music that incited the Hutu population against the Tutsi. 

He is currently being held by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda...where he has pleaded innocent to war crimes, saying "The truth shall prevail over lies, love shall prevail over hatred".

 Bikindi's songs were broadcast over the government controlled hate radio station, Radio-Television des Milles Collines (RTLM). His music has been banned in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.