The Birmingham Six

<br>Birmingham, 1974, there occurred a bloody murder<br>Twenty-one people killed by bombs, Britain reeled in horror<br>Within three hours the British State found the first available scapegoats--<br>Five Irish men bound for Belfast, about to board the boat<br>And this is their story, very sad, but true<br>Of how six men were falsely imprisoned for something they didn`t do<br>And if any should say, "British justice is the very best in the world"<br>Tell them, "Well of course it is, for the vested interests it serves"<br>The men were taken to Morkham to be tested for explosives<br>Tests which have since proved ambiguous but were at the time held as conclusive<br>One scientists` word was sufficient to condemn the Irish men<br>Like vultures the police moved in to begin interrogations<br>In the circumstances how well do you think the men`s rights were observed?<br>The cops thought they had the bombers; do you think they kept their judgement reserved?<br>Does `innocent till proven guilty` have any meaning at all<br>When you`re alone in a police house surrounded by cops being kicked around like a ball<br>In a dark windowless room half a dozen detectives were waiting<br>Billy Power was thrown in, the serious questions about to begin<br>He was kicked and hit and punched from all sides, spread-eagled against the wall<br>They kicked him and hit him again, a voice from the dark said, "Stretch his balls"<br>Soon after, poor Billy surrendered, screamed, "I`ll tell you anything you want me to say"<br>Sat in his own excretia, he could hardly speak he remained in a daze<br>Whilst cops compiled his statement of how he planted the bombs<br>They threatened him with the treatment again so Billy signed a confession<br>Thursday night became Friday night, the five men were took back to Birmingham<br>The threats and the violence continued--a taste of what was to come<br>Deprived of food and sleep, all part of procedure to break the men<br>Johnny Walker blacked out twice; they untied his hands while he signed his confession<br>And Richard McIlkenny was threatened with a gun<br>The cop said it was OK to shoot him, that the home officer`d given permission<br>The cop asked him if he was going to sign, put the gun against his head<br>Playing Russian roulette with a blank; when he banged McIlkenny thought he was dead<br>Hugh Callaghan, a sixth man, was picked up in Berm and tortured<br>He, too, hadn`t done it but they made him sign a confession to mass murder<br>Six men kept in isolation no contact with each other<br>And it weren`t until Monday morning that they each got a duty solicitor<br>Still separate each unbuttoned his shirt to show how he`d been beaten up<br>The solicitors, filling in legal aid forms, said there wasn`t time and refused to look<br>The only obvious injury, Johnny Walker`s black eye in court that day<br>When he tried to unbotton his shirt all the majistrates said, "Let`s take him away"<br>Leland workers staged a walkout, their banners read "Hang the IRA"<br>The labor government empowered at the time rushed through the PTA<br>In their war on the Irish people the British wanted vengeance<br>Despite glaring omissions in the so-called confessions the six men hadn`t a chance<br>The judge dismissed their claims, said it would`ve meant there`d been a conspiracy<br>Between fifteen officers from two different forces, as if it was an impossibility<br>The police in fact became heroes, got their promotion and victory medals<br>The six men got life imprisonment and fifteen years on they`re still in jail<br>The men protested their innocence but it fell mainly on deaf ears<br>They wanted to bring the policemen to trial, the appeal took seven years<br>Lord Denning dismissed their case out of hand, saying "These actions cannot go on"<br>What he really meant was the State machine could never admit it`s done wrong<br>Another six years, another appeal, another set of judiciary<br>To uphold the original convictions as safe and satisfactory<br>For if it ever gets out that the State judges wrong, well what would people say?<br>We`d say, "We know who are real enemies are now", and we`d form our own IRA<br>Oh let me tell a story, very sad, but true<br>Of how six men were falsely imprisoned for something they didn`t do<br>And if any should say, "British justice is the very best in the world"<br>Tell them, "Well of course it is, for the vested interests it serves"<br>For as long as we remain ignorant they`ll fight their war against Ireland<br>For as long as we remain silent they`ll imprison any they want<br>For as long as we keep our eyes shut they`ll continue to contain us<br>For as long as we remain passive they`ll trample us into the dust<br>Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Richard McIlkenny, Johnny Walker, Gerry Hunter, and Billy Power<br>Still fighting for their freedom fifteen long years on<br>Their spirits shall remain when our State is dead<br>When our State is dead<br>When our State is dead and gone