WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME?

Lyrics

WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME?

MARAKANSKY
Dedicated to the children of Palestine

INTRO – haunting piano, distant strings

Somewhere tonight, a mother is praying,
Somewhere tonight, a child is afraid.
Somewhere tonight, a little heart is asking…
Why?

VERSE 1 – deep, emotional rap

He was only seven when the sky turned black,
A little schoolbag and a dream on his back.
He wanted a bicycle, a ball, a sunny day,
Not another empty home, not another life taken away.

She drew a little house with a garden outside,
Put her family's names in the windows inside.
She didn't draw the smoke, didn't draw the flames,
She didn't know the world could forget children's names.

A teddy bear covered in dust on the floor,
Little footsteps that won't run through that door.
And somewhere beneath what the world cannot see,
There's a child who just wanted to be free.

Tell me, what did those little hands do?
What was the crime of being born there too?
They never held power, they never made war,
So why are they paying for what they never asked for?

PRE-CHORUS – piano and rising strings

And the night keeps falling,
But nobody hears them calling.
If heaven can hear a thousand prayers,
Why are there children dying down there?

[CHORUS – huge melodic male vocal, emotional choir]

WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME?
TELL ME, WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME?
They only wanted tomorrow,
They only wanted time.

Little hands reaching for a world they never knew,
Dreams buried in the dust beneath a broken sky of blue.

Oh, children of Palestine,
Your names will not disappear.
The world may close its eyes tonight,
But we will keep your memory here.

VERSE 2 – harder drums, raw storytelling

A father digs with his bare hands in the night,
Searching for the faces that once made his life bright.
No uniform, no weapon, no power to command,
Just a broken heart and dust covering his hands.

A mother holds a photograph against her chest,
A thousand unanswered prayers, no moment of rest.
She once sang lullabies to put them to sleep,
Now she whispers their names and has nothing to keep.

Where is the childhood? Where is the play?
Where is the promise of another day?
Who counts the dreams that never came true?
Who sees the children behind the evening news?

And don't tell me this is just another war,
When little ones are suffering behind every door.
A child is a child, whatever their name,
No flag or border should make their pain less the same.

CHORUS – bigger, orchestral

WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME?
TELL ME, WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME?
They only wanted tomorrow,
They only wanted time.

Little hands reaching for a world they never knew,
Dreams buried in the dust beneath a broken sky of blue.

Oh, children of Palestine,
Your names will not disappear.
The world may close its eyes tonight,
But we will keep your memory here.

[BRIDGE – stripped piano, emotional strings, children's choir]

I don't want your hatred,
I don't want another war.
I just want the little ones
To walk through an open door.

Let them grow old.
Let them fall in love.
Let them chase the stars
And dream of something more.

Let them go to school.
Let them laugh and play.
Let them wake up knowing
They will see another day.

[FINAL VERSE – slow, powerful, increasingly intense]

One day they'll ask us what happened back then,
What happened to the children, where were all the men?
What did we do when their world fell apart?
Did we turn away, or did we listen with our hearts?

History remembers the battles and names,
But who remembers the children behind all the flames?
The ones with no voice, the ones with no choice,
The ones whose only crime was never having a voice.

I cannot bring back the lives that are gone,
But I can make sure their memory lives on.
And if there's one message this song leaves behind,
It's that no child should pay for another man's fight.

[FINAL CHORUS – MASSIVE ORCHESTRA AND CHOIR]

WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME?
TELL ME, WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME?
They only wanted tomorrow,
They only wanted time.

No child should be born to fear the morning light,
No mother should be forced to say goodbye tonight.

Oh, children of Palestine,
The world must hear your names.
You deserved a life of laughter,
Not a childhood filled with pain.

OUTRO – choir fades, solo piano

They were somebody's daughter.
They were somebody's son.
They had a thousand dreams…
And their lives had just begun.

What was their crime?

Silence