Tom Paxton – We Didnt Know (Guitar)

 E                         A
"We didn't know", said the bürgermeister,

  E                       B7      E
"About those camps on the edge of town.

              A
It was Hitler and his crew,

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That tore the German nation down.

C#m
We saw the cattle cars, it's true;

E                    B7     E
Maybe they carried a Jew or two.

     C#m
They woke us up as they rattled through,

    E              B7         E
But what did you expect me to do?"

E
We didn't know at all;

A               E
We didn't see a thing.

F#            B7
What could we do?

E
It was a terrible shame,

A
But we can't bear the blame.

E          A             B7    E
Oh no, not us, we didn't know.

E                           A
"We didn't know", said the congregation,

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Singing a hymn in a church of white.

                       A
"The Press was full of lies about us,

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Preacher told us we were right.

C#m
The outside agitators came;

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They burned some churches and put the blame

   C#m
On decent southern people's names,

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To set our colored people aflame.

    C#m
And maybe some of our boys got hot,

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And a couple of niggers and reds got shot,

      C#m
They should have stayed where they belong -

    E                         B7           E
The preacher would've told us if we'd done wrong."

E
We didn't know at all;

A               E
We didn't see a thing.

F#            B7
What could we do?

E
It was a terrible shame,

A
But we can't bear the blame.

E          A             B7    E
Oh no, not us, we didn't know.

E                          A
"We didn't know", said the puzzled voter,

 E                B7       E
Watching the President on TV.

                      A
"I guess we've got to drop those bombs,

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If we're gonna keep South Asia free.

C#m
The President's such a peaceful man,

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I guess he's got some kind of plan.

     C#m
They say we're torturing prisoners of war,

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But I don't believe that stuff no more.

   C#m
Torturing prisoners is a communist game,

E                        B7       E
And You can bet they're doing the same.

  C#m
I wish this war was over and through,

    E             B7         E
But what do you expect me to do?"

E
We didn't know at all;

A               E
We didn't see a thing.

F#            B7
What could we do?

E
It was a terrible shame,

A
But we can't bear the blame.

E          A             B7    E
Oh no, not us, we didn't know.