CHILDREN’S CRUSADE
(Hali Hammer)

It’s the 13th century and in France & Germany the crusade’s on again
And this time it is led by Etienne, 14, and Nicholas, age 10
With patches on their tunic of a cross that is red, long gray robes of wool &
wide-brimmed hats on their head
20,00 set off singing to fight a war so grand,
To overthrow the Saracens and free the Holy Land
But war didn’t turn out to be the way the children planned
It was the Children’s Crusade - Birth of the Pied Piper tale
It was the Children’s Crusade - When the young followed the trail
It was the Children’s Crusade -Some went to an early grave, some were captured, sold as slaves, no fun to play This game of Children’s Crusade

Through the centuries we spin till we land in Vietnam, the year 1968
The young GIs are seen, most of them ‘round 18 without a clue to their fate
With blotchy jungle camouflage the print on their sleeves,
They fight against the children of the Vietnamese
Their memories of playing soldier still very fresh,
But now they sit around, get high, and joke about death
They don’t know just how young they are to deal with consequence
And it’s a Children’s Crusade -the draft has placed them in the heat of
The Children’s Crusade - while home there’s protests in the street against
This Children’s Crusade - God still is on their side,
But why is hide & seek the game he plays - In this Children’s Crusade?

Now it’s 1991 and history has begun to repeat once again
The foliage has thinned and now the desert wind howls its song through the sand
They didn’t have a worry for the country was at peace
They’d get an education, then their poverty would cease
The recruiter, glib-tongued salesman, made the promise, got control
The children signed the dotted line and sold away their soul
But killing wasn’t their intent and war was not their goal
Another Children’s Crusade - I don’t care what you call it,
It’s a Children’s Crusade - you know that over all it’s still a Children’s Crusade And any way you slice it, it’s much too high a price to be paid - This game of Children’s Crusade, This game of Children’s Crusade, This game of Children’s Crusade.