Mobile library

VERSE
C

Our story starts at the Macedonian border

F
Two volunteers, Ester and Laura

C
There’s a refugee camp here

Am
And in the toxic atmosphere

F
Their degrees in development

G
Didn’t seem relevant

The borders closed and no one knows

People got no place to go so

They get no relocation

Got no motivation

No access to books or communication

What could make them… smile?

CHORUS

Mobile library

Breaking through bureaucratic Bullshit

Mobile library

Just solo and independent

VERSE

C
Fund raising got the girls a mini-van

F
Turned into a library with a handyman

C
Kitted it with Wifi and tables and chairs

Am
Donations arrived from Dubai
F
Supplies from Saudi Arabia

Am
Soon they had books in Farcy
F
French and Arabic

G
Urdu, English, Kurdish and Greek

Harry Potter helped Akmed disappear

Ali escaped with Agatha Christie

Malcolm Gladwell showed Hussan

How Little Things Can Make a Difference

 Mohammed was rejected, just sat in his chair

Until he read Slumdog Millionaire

Am

And when the snow was falling

C

The tents were freezing

F                                                           C

Dan Brown, kept people warm

Am

While Callon from Camaroon

F

Who’d come on foot to get there

G

Walked to Freedom with Nelson Mandela

It was a simple idea that people will never forget

Access to books and the internet

The van keeps moving they  can't settle down

They have to park outside the camps

Stopped by police, for disturbing the peace

There are no happy endings in the story of Greece

CHORUS

Mobile library

Rising above reality

Mobile library

Changing lives one book at a time, yeah

VERSE

(QUIET)
                 C

Only the cream of Syrian society

F

Could afford the fee of being refugees

C

Now doctors, pharmacists and lawyers

Am

Counting their cents
F
Living in tents

G

While smuggler’s kids get their homes as presents

(SLOW)
C

But there’s more irony when they land on the beach

F

€20,000 euros waiting for each

C

Not that it’s ever really meant for them

Am                  F                                  C

It’s there to pay for the entire system

(FAST)
C

And it’s the new Greek graduates

Am

Who get a lot of the revenue

F

Getting their breakthrough

Am

With the EU

F

You don’t hear anymore about the Greek crisis

G                                                     C

It’s been solved by Assad and Isis

Am

While the UN guys

F

Rent top of the range, four wheel drives

G

And who knows where the money for the NGOs goes!

CHORUS

OUTRO

Mobile library

Bordered bodies but minds free

Mobile sanctuary

Taking literature, literally

Mobile missionary

Independent, voluntary

Mobile emissary

Giving back, dignity

EXTRA:

To be fair they're just trying to fit in
In Thessaloniki they're all on the take
Even the elements give you no place to go
Incredible heat or freezing snow
And all they ever hear is people complaining
But everything's solved by double-glazing
It can be tough to get through another day
To make it from frappe to frappe