Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Jane Birkin

Tonight I was at a concert by Jane Birkin in Montreal. At one point she expressed forcefully how she felt about the military Junta in Burma and sang a song she had written about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Exceptionally, although this was not a benefit concert, Amnesty International were present for people to sign a petition afterwards.

This resonated with me for two reasons: firstly I had travelled in Burma some ten years ago and had attended a rally where Aung San Suu Kyi spoke and also because of the book I am writing on music and human rights.

Nothing to do with consulting but....

In The Quiet Land (By Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)

In the Quiet Land, no one can tell
if there's someone who's listening
for secrets they can sell.
The informers are paid in the blood of the land
and no one dares speak what the tyrants won't stand.

In the quiet land of Burma,
no one laughs and no one thinks out loud.
In the quiet land of Burma,
you can hear it in the silence of the crowd

In the Quiet Land, no one can say
when the soldiers are coming
to carry them away.
The Chinese want a road; the French want the oil;
the Thais take the timber; and SLORC takes the spoils...

In the Quiet Land....
In the Quiet Land, no one can hear
what is silenced by murder
and covered up with fear.
But, despite what is forced, freedom's a sound
that liars can't fake and no shouting can drown.