By Benjamin Adair Murphy

He stepped in the water
He helped the fishes swim
When he left those fish were singing
So of course they killed him

The wrong kind of voice
The wrong kind of skin
His car was way too pretty
So of course they killed him

So of course they killed him
So of course they killed him

He was calm and patient
The stranger’s twin
He put his hands upon the sick
So of course they killed him

They didn’t know where to start
Or where to begin
They were scared and they were panicked
So of course they killed him

So of course they killed him
So of course they killed him

Well, some don’t get it
Some understand 
And some stand with the soldiers
Who cut off Victor Jara’s hands

So you can blame the timing 
You can blame the luck
But I swear a man can’t speak the truth 
Without his throat getting cut

So of course they killed him
So of course they killed him
So of course they killed him
So of course…

They killed him

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Benjamin Adair Murphy writes blues and country songs. His last album, ‘Let’s Make a King,’ was named one of the best albums of 2020 by multiple publications. His poetry and lyrics have been published in Fevers of the Mind, Headline Poetry and Press, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Rabid Oak, Coven Poetry, and others. His plays have been performed in New York, Boston, and Chicago. He lives in Mexico City.

By Benjamin Adair Murphy

I was standing in the daytime
When the sun went out of sight
It looked like the whole world 
Had fallen into night
Something bad ‘bout to begin
That’s when war walked in

There were a bunch of young thugs
Looking scared and looking mean
All they wanted was a father
All they wanted was a scene
All they wanted was Berlin
That’s how war walked in

That’s when war walked in

There were bodies full of bullets
Blood dripping down from the trees
Good men and women
Forced to get down on their knees
And pray for their own skins
That’s when war walked in

There were breaks in the supply chain
People looking scared
All your good neighbors 
Going off somewhere
And they’re not coming back again
That’s when war walked in

That’s when war walked in

Some men don’t ever learn
They just fall down on the job
The world don’t ever turn
It just shakes like a dripping dog

We’re shot when we get captured
And pull the trigger when we win
We leave the door wide open
And war comes walking in

There was a man behind a desk
He was running through those numbers
It was a golden opportunity

For the weapons manufacturers
And all their friends
That’s when war walked in

There was a branch that looked like fingers
Hanging down into the mud
The kids all clung to it
And used a car as a makeshift bridge
And then they jumped into the flood
And everyone had to swim

That’s when war walked in
That’s when war walked in
That’s when war walked in

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Benjamin Adair Murphy writes blues and country songs. His last album, ‘Let’s Make a King,’ was named one of the best albums of 2020 by multiple publications. His poetry and lyrics have been published in Fevers of the Mind, Headline Poetry and Press, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Rabid Oak, Coven Poetry, and others. His plays have been performed in New York, Boston, and Chicago. He lives in Mexico City.