Before they arrived to riot and curse here
The flowers, the birds and the people were free
But now they’ve invaded, the flower’s uprooted
The bird’s flown the cage and now we have been put there
They built the prisons and they named the condemned
They made the laws and the locks and the keys
And they’ve tried to divide us by destroying our language
All this, they would claim, makes them civilised men
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys have taken over our land
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys have snatched my World from my hands
Before they arrived we never had problems
We shared with our neighbours the fruits of the Earth
But now we are ruled by the soldier and banker
And we’re fighting each other from the moment of birth
They hunted us down, now they’re hunting the others
The wise and the peaceful, those who will not fight back
And because we do nothing as they murder our brothers
This, they believe, makes them civilised men
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys have taken over our land
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys have snatched my World from my hands
In times long ago the man was a prince
The woman a princess in a kingdom of love
But since they arrived the prince is a beggar
The kingdom has died and the woman’s been sold
For they have brought with them the love which is sinful
That’s sold in a market, a love which is business
Now women work brothels kept by their mothers
And this, they tell us, makes them civilised men
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys have taken over our land
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys have snatched my World from my hands
Before them there was always peace in our land
We had all we needed and we had all we wanted
But now they have beaten us into submission
And for reasons of state they have driven out reason
They brought with them sharpened steel and explosives
And the gas chamber and electric chair
And the napalm bombs and nuclear missiles
This evil, they believe, makes them civilised men
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys have taken over our land
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys have snatched my World from my hands