Refugee

Give me the strength to say
The words that fill my heart
And help me hide the tears
That bring such fear

And when in winter's chill
I long for summer's sun
Don't let me turn aside
From those who need me.

I was a refugee
You gave me shelter
And peace to live my life
Free from fear

Your world is a miracle to me
A place to smile again
To be free
Oh, I'd forgotten
How my life lies buried
Neath the rubble of the home of our dreams

Instrumental

Within this restless world
Our lives are changing
And every hand we hold
Is for love

You smiled as you took me by the hand
You tried to comfort me, to understand
We will remember
With each hour we live
The days we owe to you.

Instrumental

I was a refugee
You gave me shelter
And peace to live my life
Free from fear

I was staying with a German friend of mine at the tiem of the Syrian refugee crisis. My friend is multi-lingual and prefers to watch the news on French TV because he says it's more international.

After an interview with Angelina Jolie, who was - perhaps still is - UN ambassador for refugees, they interviewed some Syrians who had been given accommodation in France. My French is just good enough for me to follow what was being said, and two things struck me: first, that these were teachers, accountants, librarians - ordinary middle-class people who had left their comfortable homes and now had absolutely nothing; second, how grateful they were to the French people for giving them a roof over their head, somewhere for the nightmare to stop.

I knew the song had to be simple and dramatic, and I wrote the main theme on a Chad Valley toy keyboard in the car on a cold spring day in Suffolk while Sylvia was painting.

This is the song that, out of everything we do, gets most people talking to us about how important it is to say these things. I have lots more to say.