Would You Hide Me?
from Grand Hotel Cosmopolis by Geoff Berner
-
Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
$1 CAD or more
-
Buy the Full Digital Album
lyrics
Would You Hide Me?
All my life, I’ve had nightmares of being hunted, I was taught
About the pogroms and the Holocaust, I mean a lot.
My grandmother said “Don’t kid yourself, my dear,
If for one second you think can’t happen here.
Your friends and neighbours are no different than
The happy folks in Munich, Lyon, Eindhoven,
If times turn bad, they’ll need a scapegoat too,
And it’s dollars to donuts they’ll blame the You Know Who.
Half your friends and your neighbours in the neighbourhood
Will turn you into the Gestapo for the public good.”
I’ve travelled round this world and I looked hard and I looked long,
I can’t say that I’ve found anything to prove my gramma wrong.
So if I’m looking at you funny it’s ’cause there's something I’m trying to see:
I wonder, wonder, wonder,
Would you hide me?
When I first come over to visit for tea,
My behaviour might seem erratic.
I’m poking around just assessing
The livability of your attic
Lately the question feels easier to answer than before,
As the monsters tear their masks off round the world and just next door.
Maybe it’s not as bad as it could be yet,
They’re just picking off the people who are easiest to get.
As I grew older, I came to discover:
Every nation’s a machine for hunting somebody or other.
It’s never a question of “Do the hunters exist?”
It’s only a question of who is on the list.
So who would we hide and what would we risk to hide them?
Are you ready to ride in the train beside them?
Or spend your life looking through the curtains out the window,
Scanning for movement in the quiet streets below...
The cost of eternal vigilance is that you never ever feel free,
As I wonder, wonder, wonder,
Would you hide me?
All my life, I’ve had nightmares of being hunted, I was taught
About the pogroms and the Holocaust, I mean a lot.
My grandmother said “Don’t kid yourself, my dear,
If for one second you think can’t happen here.
Your friends and neighbours are no different than
The happy folks in Munich, Lyon, Eindhoven,
If times turn bad, they’ll need a scapegoat too,
And it’s dollars to donuts they’ll blame the You Know Who.
Half your friends and your neighbours in the neighbourhood
Will turn you into the Gestapo for the public good.”
I’ve travelled round this world and I looked hard and I looked long,
I can’t say that I’ve found anything to prove my gramma wrong.
So if I’m looking at you funny it’s ’cause there's something I’m trying to see:
I wonder, wonder, wonder,
Would you hide me?
When I first come over to visit for tea,
My behaviour might seem erratic.
I’m poking around just assessing
The livability of your attic
Lately the question feels easier to answer than before,
As the monsters tear their masks off round the world and just next door.
Maybe it’s not as bad as it could be yet,
They’re just picking off the people who are easiest to get.
As I grew older, I came to discover:
Every nation’s a machine for hunting somebody or other.
It’s never a question of “Do the hunters exist?”
It’s only a question of who is on the list.
So who would we hide and what would we risk to hide them?
Are you ready to ride in the train beside them?
Or spend your life looking through the curtains out the window,
Scanning for movement in the quiet streets below...
The cost of eternal vigilance is that you never ever feel free,
As I wonder, wonder, wonder,
Would you hide me?
credits
from Grand Hotel Cosmopolis,
released November 1, 2019
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Geoff Berner Vancouver, British Columbia
Singer / songwriter / accordionist / novelist Geoff Berner's music combines klezmer, punk, political satire and Balkan dance rhythms. He writes sharp, literate songs that make you want to weep, laugh, grind your teeth, or kick out a window - often all at the same time. Having built a cult following with his weirdly compelling stage presence, G.B. has a strange ability to create fun chaos. ... more
discography
-
Jul 2023 -
Mar 2021 -
Nov 2019 -
Sep 2017 -
Jul 2017 -
Oct 2015 -
Mar 2011 -
Jan 2009 -
Jan 2007 -
Aug 2005 -
Jan 2003 -
Jul 2017
contact / help
If you like Geoff Berner, you may also like:
-
Cradle Songs, Grave Songs
by Brivelesupported by 11 fans who also own “Would You Hide Me?”
go to album -
-
-
Sparkling and knotty indie rock from this Australian group with interlocking guitars and shifting rhythms.
go to album -
Irish singer-songwriter Oisin Leech's acoustic folk music is characterized by its muted beauty and intimate, solitary quality.
go to album -
The haunting new record from Canadian folk artist Avi C. Engel bridges old and new traditions with a minimalist approach.
go to album -
supported by 8 fans who also own “Would You Hide Me?”
Saints, Tesla!!, All tracks take me down a different storytunnel! Love those big drums like a stoned highschool band. Bang Bang! Love them!
go to album
