[Spoken Word]
Babylon attacked Judah in five hundred ninety six B.C.E. and totally conquered it in five hundred eighty six B.C.E.
– and took the final group of captives to Babylon.
You can just imagine what they musta thought.
[Verse 1]
The war was over and they lost
Now they’re locked in a line, wrists tied tight
Eight hundred miles of dust ahead
No shade, no home, no coming back tonight
It feels like yesterday they ran the place
Judah’s money, Judah’s name, Judah’s doors
The king’s palace, temple steps, altar smoke
Bankers, merchants, all of it was theirs before
They were the ones people had to listen to
Their calls shaped the way the whole country moved
Now the palace is rubble, the temple’s gone
And the streets they owned are all blackened through
[Chorus]
How did it turn this fast?
How did we end up here?
Chains on our hands, sand in our mouths
Walking through the fear
We had the power, we had the gold
Now we’re part of the haul
And somewhere in the noise of the march
The same question hits us all
Why did this happen to us?
Why did this happen to us?
[Verse 2]
The soldiers around them don’t even look surprised
Just hard-eyed men with spears and routine
They’ve done this before, they know the drill
Load up the captured, move the machine
And these people who once sat at the front
Now they’re counted like spoils, like stock
Paraded in Babylon for somebody else
To point at, laugh at, talk about in shock
And under all that dust and iron
One thought keeps dragging at their feet
If gods control the whole damn world
Then who did they fail? And why us, in the heat?
[Chorus]
How did it turn this fast?
How did we end up here?
Chains on our hands, sand in our mouths
Walking through the fear
We had the power, we had the gold
Now we’re part of the haul
And somewhere in the noise of the march
The same question hits us all
Why did this happen to us?
Why did this happen to us?
[Bridge]
Was it the altars?
Was it the kings?
Was it all the signs we missed?
Was it the loud prayers in the wrong direction
And the life we thought could never slip?
[Final Chorus]
How did it turn this fast?
How did we end up here?
Chains on our hands, sand in our mouths
Walking through the fear
We had the power, we had the gold
Now we’re part of the haul
And somewhere in the dust of Babylon
That question breaks through all
Why did this happen to us?
Why did this happen to us?
Why, WHY, WHY!
Why did this happen to us?
Why, WHY, WHY
