Soldier of the LIving Truth

The Berber poet and songwriter, Lounes Matoub, lived most of the last years of his short life in Paris, in exile from his homeland.

In connection with the publication of what became his last CD, he returned home briefly in June, 1998. (You can hear some of his music here)

A single coward would been enough, but he was ambushed and gunned down by a dozen thugs. When the news of the murder was made known, a voice was heard shouting in the streets of Paris: "Matoub is Universal! -- Matoub Lives!".

Indeed, he was and is a soldier of the Living Truth.

The intensely angry poem which follows this introduction is dedicated to the memory of all soldiers of the living truth, be they children of this or that or no religion at all. It should not be understood as polemic only about what happened in Algiera -- christian, jewish, muslim hindu, military or state-sponsored terror -- it is all shit from the baboon's ass! All the bombs are in the hands of terrorists -- can I say it any plainer?

Speak truth to power, sing the words you find in you mouth. The night is equally long for all of us whether we be hero or coward ´-- of what then should we be afraid?

He came to you with open arms
Full of roses red -- so red!
The breath in his breast was warm, so warm!
And you shot him dead...dead...dead!

In songs of love and simple truth,
He gave you the words he found in his mouth.
But you had to blow him down because
He revealed the snakes inside of you!

It gives me quite a chill to think:
You claim to know the "Will-of-God"!
A "will" which thrills to kill and fills
An empty purse with "Clots of Blood!"

You turn the Image of God into
Garbage and instant dog-food
With your bombs and nails and broken glass3:
You are shit from the Baboon's ass!

I could say more, I could say lots!
The Word moves and will not be stopped!
Your "Sacred Book" is Parrot-Speech!
Your "Holy Men" are perverted creeps!

Your "Heaven" is my hell & your "Hell" is my heaven!
Nothing that was revealed, do you know!
You've never known what was received
In Hira cave, so many years ago!


You are a dry, desert wind
And what you do to Holy Writ,
Makes Gabriel5 puke his guts and glow
With angelic rage at the gall of it!

You fill an empty purse
With wicked deeds and put them in a hearse,
This your ticket to eternal paradise?

When the severed heads and the blood of men
Trickled redly into the desert sand,
The Flower of Islam was cut back then,
And now, it's you who do the deed again!

I swear: there is no place in heaven!
Never! Ever! Not now nor then!
Come closer -- taste my spit!
You are headed for the Pit!

Islam is reborn in places known
By the minaret and sometimes not.
But all that you have ever grown
Is bleeding stubs and dried snot!

How dare you say, "God-is-great!"?
You have never known any "god"
Except the reflection of your own hate!
Your deeds say: "There is no God!"

No "God" except a restless night,
Ruling over betrayal,
Waste and shards of broken dreams,
Ruins echoing silent screams...

There is no redemption for scum like you:
Lovers of the Great She Goat
who rape young girls
then slit their throats!

Matoub lives and you do not!
And on that Day you burn
like dry grass.

____________________
While looking for a picture I learned that Matoub wrote "blasphemous" songs. So what? Has there ever been a prophet who wasn't known as a blasphemer, enemy of the state, both or worse? In my book, killing human beings is the far greater blasphemy than poking fun at the silly things people say about their religions.