Mi Libertad - My Freedom

In my last post I told about some of the boys in detention that I had met and the songs that they had written for a music concert. On a return visit I asked the staff for a copy of the lyrics to the songs and they gave me the entire song book that the boys had written. Each dormitory wrote songs for the concert.  About three quarters of the songs are about girls and the rest about prison. Considering they are 14-17 year old boys, I was lucky that any of the songs talked about prison life!

The song "Visiting Day" was written by the boys of Dormitory 1 which is the "new comers' " dormitory. These kids have been in prison for maybe four or five days, which in my mind make the words of "Visiting Day" sting a bit deeper. Here is another song written by Dormitory 1 called "Mi Libertad" or "My Freedom":

“I WANT TO LEAVE THIS PLACE

SO THAT MY LIFE CAN CHANGE

TO BE DIFFERENT TO EVERYBODY

AND TO BE ABLE TO EMBRACE MY LADY

AND NEVER AGAIN TURN TO ROBBING

AND WITH MY FAMILY I CAN ENJOY

MY FREEDOM, MY FREEDOM.”

“TO GO TO SCHOOL AND STUDY

THE CHANCE TO HOOK UP WITH A GIRL

AND I CAN MAKE IT LIKE A NORMAL MAN

I START TO SING WITH ALL THE BAND

AND ALL THE BAND WILL TELL YOU

VALUE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR FREEDOM

YOUR FREEDOM, YOUR FREEDOM

YOUR FREEDOM, YOUR FREEDOM.”