'There but for fortune, goes your land or mine'

The song by Phil Ochs (1963) is accompanied by children's artwork from war zones across the Middle East (since 2003), as well as Ukraine and Czechoslovakia (Terezín, 1942-44).

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[Verse 1]
Show me a prison, show me a jail;
Show me a prisoner whose life has gone pale.
And I'll show you a young one with many reasons why…
There but for fortune go you or I.

[Verse 2]
Show me an alley, show me a train;
Show me a family who sleeps in the rain;
And I'll show you some young ones with many reasons why…
There but for fortune go you or I.

[Verse 3]
Show me the whiskey stains on the floor;
Show me a drunkard stumbling out the door.
And I'll show you a young one with many reasons why…
And there but for fortune go you or I.

[Verse 4]
Show me the country where the bombs had to fall;
Show me the ruins of the buildings once so tall.
And I'll show you a young land with many reasons why…
There, but for fortune, goes your land or mine. Or mine….

[Verse 1 repeated.]

Thanks to participants in the Starry Sky Project for inspiration to do this. -ts

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SOURCES:

https://genius.com/Joan-baez-there-but-for-fortune-lyrics

https://www.gofundme.com/f/under-the-starry-sky-project-with-afghan-women

https://petapixel.com/2022/04/03/photographer-recreates-drawings-by-kids-in-war-zones-using-toys/

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/ukrainian-childrens-drawings-toll-war-with-russia-ua-kids-today-1537930

https://www.jewishmuseum.cz/en/collection-research/collections-funds/visual-arts/children-s-drawings-from-the-terezin-ghetto/