I remember when I was growing up

If my mother got angry or frustrated with me

She′d say "oh, esh ked heluwa el hurriya"And a basic translation of that

Is oh how beautiful is freedom

But where is freedom?

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

Close my eyes, I can still hear my ummi saying

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

But where is our freedom?

This is for Baghdad, the place of my mothers birth

The cradle of civilization, for what its worth

The land I've never the seen, culture I′ve never known

Iraq is in my heart, my blood, my flesh and bones

The air I've never breathed, fragrance I've never smelled

The pride I never had, the nationality that I never felt

Saddam was bad, and the American′s even more so

They made me grow like i was missing part of my torso

But I never picked up a grenade in my garden

I never saw people I love die starving

I never saw my family die through many years of sanctions

While the rulers family lived in palaces and mansions

Never had a family member kidnapped for a ransom

I never lost a friend to violence that was random

Bombings, occupation, torture, intimidation

A million dead people doesn′t equal liberation

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

Close my eyes I can still hear my ummi saying

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية(Listen)

But where is our freedom

Forget division based on ethnicity or religion

Whether your Sunni, Shia, Kurdish or Christian

Pain is just pain if a person is missing

We all deserve a life in this earth that we live in

Is there enough words that can say?

How deeply Baghdad is burning today

Its not about pity, hand outs, or sympathy

Its about pride, respect, honour and dignity

Babies being born with deformities from Uranium

Those babies aren't just Iraqi, they′re Mesopotamian

What I view on the news is making me shiver

Because I look at the victims and see the same face in the mirror

This system of division makes it harder for you and me

Peace is a question, the only answer is unity

So many dreams, about a place that I've never seen

The place my family had to leave in the 70′s

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

Close my eyes I can still hear my ummi saying

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

Yeah "But is our FREEDOM"

It rains white phosphorus in Fallujah

This is for those that won't live to see the future

Sorry that I wasn′t there

Sorry that I couldn't help

I'm sorry for every tear

I′m sorry you′ve been put through hell

Still I feel like an immigrant

Englishman amongst Arabs, and an Arab amongst Englishmen

Like I said they never gave me the culture

But they did give me Kubbad Haleb, Hakaka and Dolma

Ana isme Kareem

Wa ohmre talatha wa ishreen

Umi min Baghdad, wa abuya min Dover

And thats the combination i carry on my shoulders

Still i rep, till my death, till they kill and seal my flesh

From now all the way back to Gilgamesh

Such a villianized and criticized nation

You will always be the cradle of civilization

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

Close my eyes I can still hear my Umi saying

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

أوي شكد حلوة الحرية

But is our Freedom

In my sleep, in my dreams

Mother land I can still feel you calling' me

In my sleep, in my dreams

Mother land I can still feel you calling′ me

In my sleep, in my dreams

Mother land I can still feel you calling me

I can still feel you calling me

I can still feel you calling me