PJ Harvey released a new track on Saturday to draw attention to the case of a British resident detained at Guantanamo Bay. Following in the dark, politically charged vein of 2011's Let England Shake, "Shaker Aamer" describes the agony of its title subject's four-month hunger strike as he endures the prison's feeding tubes, restraining chairs and shackles.
Aamer is the last British resident remaining in the US prison. According to the Guardian, the 46-year-old has been held at Guantanamo for more than 11 years without being charged or tried. He was cleared for release in 2007, and the British government has repeatedly requested that Aamer, who has a British wife and four British-born children, be returned to the UK. While the US announced last week that it would restart its repatriation of low-level detainees from Guantanamo, Aamer's supporters fear that he will be sent to his birthplace of Saudi Arabia for imprisonment instead.
Lyrics:
"No water for three days.
I cannot sleep, or stay awake.
Four months hunger strike.
Am I dead, or am I alive?
With metal tubes we are force fed.
I honestly wish I was dead.
Strapped in the restraining chair.
Shaker Aamer, your friend."
In Camp 5, eleven years.
Never charged. Six years cleared.
"They took away my one note pad,
and then refused to give it back.
I can’t think straight, I write, then stop.
Your friend Shaker Aamer. Lost.
The guards just do what they’re told,
the doctors just do what they’re told.
Like an old car I’m rusting away.
Your friend, Shaker. Guantanamo Bay."
Don’t forget.
PJ Harvey
© 2013 Hothead Music Ltd.
