Liam’s Song
Come gather ‘round you people and a story I will tell, About a brave and tired town where the snow and shadows fell, It was twenty-twenty-six, a January cold, When the agents came for Liam, he was only five years old.
Oh, the wind blows bitter on the Minnesota plains, But colder are the hearts of men who trade in fear and chains. Yeah, they talk about the law, and they talk about the state, But what kind of lawman uses children for his bait?
Well, Liam was in preschool, with a backpack and a smile, coming home from learning, riding been in the car a while. His daddy was a worker, just trying to make his way, When men in masks and Kevlar stepped out to have their way. They grabbed his daddy roughly, they didn't care or ask, To make that family broken was their cursed and chosen task. But the thing that makes you wonder, the thing that makes you freeze, Is what they did to Liam while he stood with trembling knees.
Oh, the wind blows bitter on the Minnesota plains, But colder are the hearts of men who trade in fear and chains. Yeah, they talk about the law, and they talk about the state, But what kind of lawman uses children for his bait?
They marched him to the front door, a little pawn in blue, They said, "Knock on that there door, boy, let’s see who’s home with you." They used him like a trap, folks, to catch another soul, These traitors with no backbones and hard black hearts of coal. A teacher said “he’s a loving boy,” a neighbor heard their plea, "Let us take that loving boy. Let the little one go free." But the agents shook their thick heads, and shoved him in the van, And they shipped him down to Texas, far from the frozen land.
Oh, the wind blows bitter on the Minnesota plains, But colder are the hearts of men who trade in fear and chains. Yeah, they talk about the law, and they talk about the state, But what kind of lawman uses children for his bait?
Now he’s sitting in a cage somewhere, a thousand miles away, Crying for his parents through long night and day. All the papers say "Abandoned," and the king says “‘tis The Law," But I say it’s the lowest thing this country ever saw. So if you see a little hat, or a backpack on the street, Remember Little Liam, and the justice he did meet. There’s a storm rolling heavy, and the sky is turning gray, And it’s gonna take some fighting to push these thugs away.
Oh, the wind blows bitter on the Minnesota plains, But colder are the hearts of men who trade in fear and chains. Yeah, they talk about the law, and they talk about the state, But what kind of lawman uses children for his bait?