Comments on: O Haiti, não é aqui http://www.popandpolitics.com/2008/06/25/o-haiti-nao-e-aqui/ Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:05:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Damien http://www.popandpolitics.com/2008/06/25/o-haiti-nao-e-aqui/#comment-8208 Damien Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:17:47 +0000 http://www.popandpolitics.com/?p=2657#comment-8208 I appreciate the authors comments a lot. I just was wondering what to make of the quotation of that beautiful song by Caetano in the sense that I think you omitted the most striking and important of that songs lyrics. "Pensa no Haiti, reza por Haiti. O Haiti e aqui, O Haiti nao e aqui." You faithfully translate, yet the phrase "O Haiti e aqui" is curiously missing. "Think about Haiti, Pray for Haiti. HAITI IS HERE. Haiti is not here." What does it mean when Caetano says Haiti is here? Even in "Haiti is not here," we seem to be reminded that "we" are "there" - the influence of our lives, our thoughts, our foreign policy, our apathy, our care IS there in Haiti, just as Haiti's strength, life, hope, pain, destitution is here; in our hearts, our greed, our flagging confidence in the possibility of our own freedoms. That interconnectedness theme.... Thanks for writing! Peace I appreciate the authors comments a lot. I just was wondering what to make of the quotation of that beautiful song by Caetano in the sense that I think you omitted the most striking and important of that songs lyrics. “Pensa no Haiti, reza por Haiti. O Haiti e aqui, O Haiti nao e aqui.” You faithfully translate, yet the phrase “O Haiti e aqui” is curiously missing. “Think about Haiti, Pray for Haiti. HAITI IS HERE. Haiti is not here.” What does it mean when Caetano says Haiti is here? Even in “Haiti is not here,” we seem to be reminded that “we” are “there” - the influence of our lives, our thoughts, our foreign policy, our apathy, our care IS there in Haiti, just as Haiti’s strength, life, hope, pain, destitution is here; in our hearts, our greed, our flagging confidence in the possibility of our own freedoms. That interconnectedness theme…. Thanks for writing! Peace

]]> By: Mike Hussein Cohen http://www.popandpolitics.com/2008/06/25/o-haiti-nao-e-aqui/#comment-7621 Mike Hussein Cohen Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:06:20 +0000 http://www.popandpolitics.com/?p=2657#comment-7621 "Haiti" by Arcade Fire is one of the most beautiful songs: Haïti, mon pays, wounded mother I'll never see. Ma famille set me free. Throw my ashes into the sea. Mes cousins jamais nés hantent les nuits de Duvalier. Rien n'arrete nos esprits. Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see. In the forest we lie hiding, unmarked graves where flowers grow. Hear the soldiers angry yelling, in the river we will go. Tous les morts-nés forment une armée, soon we will reclaim the earth. All the tears and all the bodies bring about our second birth. Haïti, never free, n'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme. Tes enfants sont partis, In those days their blood was still warm. “Haiti” by Arcade Fire is one of the most beautiful songs:

Haïti, mon pays,
wounded mother I’ll never see.
Ma famille set me free.
Throw my ashes into the sea.

Mes cousins jamais nés
hantent les nuits de Duvalier.
Rien n’arrete nos esprits.
Guns can’t kill what soldiers can’t see.

In the forest we lie hiding,
unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
in the river we will go.

Tous les morts-nés forment une armée,
soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
bring about our second birth.

Haïti, never free,
n’aie pas peur de sonner l’alarme.
Tes enfants sont partis,
In those days their blood was still warm.

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