The Death Of Stephen Biko - Tom Paxton, Bob Gibson, Anne Hills

Stephen Biko lay in shackles on a urine-sodden mattress

In the solitary section, he was made to lie there naked

Ah, ah!

Given nothing he could wash with, exercise was not permitted

Stephen Biko lay in shackles, compliments of Colonel Goosen

Ah, ah, Africa!

Port Elizabeth the prison, South Africa the nation

Stephen Biko lay in shackles, though his hands and feet were swollen

Ah, ah!

In the close interrogation he was beaten like the others

He was put back in the shackles, compliments of Colonel Goosen

Ah, ah, Africa!

Ah, ah, Africa!

He was sick and he was dying, prison doctors came to see him

When the cops spoke to the doctors they said, Nothing much is wrong here

Ah, ah!

Just a short stay in the infirmary, then it’s back down to the shackles

On a urine-sodden mattress, compliments of Colonel Goosen

Ah, ah, Africa!

Ah, ah, Africa!

When they found him in a coma, when the man was clearly dying

He was naked, but they stowed him in the back of a Land Rover

Ah, ah!

Though a hospital was near by it was no part of a prison

So they took him to Pretoria — seven hundred fifty miles

Ah, ah, Africa!

Ah, ah, Africa!

There was no one on the journey who could help the man survive it

And the medical equipment was just one bottle of water

Ah, ah!

When they reached Pretoria prison they brought no medical records with them

And they said, he might be faking, it’s a hunger strike he’s staging

Ah, ah, Africa!

Ah, ah, Africa!

Stephen Biko in Pretoria was laid down upon a mattress

On the stone floor of a prison, and he died his lonely death there

Now, the country was South Africa;

the victim, Stephen Biko

The victim, all South Africa;

the victim, all humanity

At the death of Stephen Biko

Ah, ah, Africa!

Ah, ah, Africa!