Het Ch3oul – Gimme a flame
Translated to English by Sofian Zerelli
Edited by Znous
Synopsis
“Het Ch3oul” is dedicated to the soul, the music and the suffering of Tunisian rapper and artist Cheb Terro (1997-2021) and it speaks of the deep involvement of the system in the traffic and spread of chemical drugs among Tunisian youth. The track is also dedicated to the Tunisian youth suffering drug abuse and depression.
Lyrics:
Kids are like vampires, they come out at night
to live in a parallel world to the fucked up one that surrounds them
Pills and liquid drugs are tickets for trips
Late night pharmacies are travel agencies
One pill helps you remember, another one makes you forget
One pill makes you convulse, while you have no control over what happens next
In a country where you have to either ravage your liver or your stomach
or trespass the borders in a small boat at night
No matter how loud you scream, you remain unheard
You are clinging to a dream, the dream is a nightmare
Your mouth is muzzled and your body is poisoned
Getting your fix from the dealer. that is the criminal state
No matter how much you talk, sing, or rap about it
they’re not going to feel your pain
Your last resort is chemical warfare against yourself
No matter how many university degrees you earn, how much you have lived and learned
Your breath becomes useless when your dreams die inside of you
No matter how much comfort you find in music and football mania
In a country that is an expert in the politics of aborting dreams
One single thought keeps burning like an ember inside your mind
Those who want to burn me and drive me out are worthy of my own fire!!!
A glass bottle and a wick for those in charge
gimme a flame!!
For the parliament that is a whorehouse
gimme a flame!!
For Ghannouchi(1) and for Abbour(2)
gimme a flame!!
Scratch it all and start all over again
gimme a flame!!
A glass bottle and a wick for the corrupt
gimme a flame!!
For those who struck it rich and kept piling it up
gimme a flame!!
Burn down their means of production
gimme a flame!!
For the mercenaries and the savage capitalists
….
Is that enough misery? or should I tell you more?
Smoking your poison while the rich are smoking you
Getting drunk on your blood when they party
Licking cocaine under the protection of the state police
Chemical pills are distributed and munched on by kids in high schools
While when you smoke the blessed herb, then you go to jail..
In a country where you have to either ravage your liver or your stomach
or burn down a police truck and/or a police station
No matter how often they take me down, I’m still standing tall
No matter how often you redo the count, you’ll always find a deficit
I’ll speak up for my rights and I’m not giving up!
And this criminal state won’t hold me back (x3)
No matter how much you talk, sing, or rap about it
they’re not going to feel your pain
Your last resort is chemical warfare against yourself
No matter how many university degrees you earn, how much you have lived and learned
Your breath becomes useless when your dreams die inside of you
No matter how much comfort you find in music and football mania
In a country that is an expert in the politics of aborting dreams
One single thought keeps burning like an ember inside your mind
Those who want to burn me and drive me out are worthy of my own fire!!!
A glass bottle and a wick for those in charge
gimme a flame!!
For the parliament that is a whorehouse
gimme a flame!!
For Ghannouchi(1) and for Abbour(2)
gimme a flame!!
Scratch it all and start all over again
gimme a flame!!
A glass bottle and a wick for the corrupt
gimme a flame!!
For those who struck it rich and kept piling it up
gimme a flame!!
Revolt and be a final deluge
gimme a flame!!
After which all truth is revealed.
….
(1) Rached Ghannouchi is the founder and leader of the tunisian islamist political Party Ennahdha
(2) Abbour is a tunisian nickname for the female arab name “Abir”, and it is used to refer to Abir Moussi, who symbolizes the remains of the Ben-Ali Era in post-revolution tunisian politics.
