Bhopal's Blues

©2002 Garrett Clevenger

Am F E G Am F E E F

Am F The stars were maligned above the town of Bhopal.

G E A 1001 Nights were about to fall.

Am F At 5 past midnight on December 3rd,

G E 1984, perhaps you've heard.

E F

Am F Methyl-Iso-Cyanide,

G E A poison used in a pesticide.

Am F An under funded safety design.

G E A runaway reaction began to unwind.

C D Sevin is the name of the pesticide.

F Bb G C Am D E F

Am F E G Am F E E F

Am F 40 metric tones burst into the sky

G E and was carried by the wind as a Diva cried.

Am F A half a million poisoned by Union Carbide.

G E About 20,000 Indians died.

E F

Am F Officials knew an hour before it blew,

G E but didn't alert the poor people who

Am F awaited downwind in their shanty town,

G E never knowing what was blowing down.

C D That was the night that India cried.

F Bb G C Am D

{Dm Em F Dm Em F Am Bm C Am Bm C} [jam out]

Dm Em F Dm Em F E E7 E+C E7 E F

Am F E G Am F E E F

Am F Filling their lungs and burning their eyes,

G E a 4 hour dose of the gas cyanide!

Am F 40 square kilometers were cloaked by the cloud

G E that hovered above the ground like a shroud.

E F

Am F Gasping and screaming and running around,

G E vomit and blood spilt on the ground.

Am F If they would have been told to breath through a wet rag,

G E the legacy of Bhopal would not be so sad.

C D We extract gold using cyanide.

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Am F E G Am F E E F

Am F Spontaneous abortions and cancer's common.

G E Psychosis, anxiety and depression.

Am F 150,000 now suffer ill health,

G E a direct consequence of our addiction to wealth.

E F

Am F The water's polluted, the memories deep,

G E their nightmares are vivid, they cry in their sleep.

Am F The worst thing, though, is Bhopal's not unique:

G E Our world has been coated with the waste that we leak.

C D A self-afflicted genocide.

{F Bb G C Am D Bm E C F D G E Am} repeat, varying octaves

F Bb G C Am D Bm E E7 E+C E7 F G Am