Guns Down — A tribute to the children of the drug war

When I did the reporting for the first ever Bravery Tapes episode and the accompanying story “Narco War,” I was struck by devastating effects that Mexico’s drug violence was having on the lives of children. I wrote a song about it, and it became the title track of my album “Guns Down.”
 
Here’s a recording of the song on YouTube as well as its lyrics:
 
Guns Down
 
Father I want to go out and play
The green grass is calling me today
Father why can’t I go out and play?
 
I’m listening to children laughing, but I don’t hear a sound
If they looked out and saw what I see, they might lay their guns down
 
Mother I want to see my friend
Its been a long time since I’ve seen my friend
Mother what happened to my friend
 
I know son you want to see him, but he’s no longer here
Men with guns they took him, and we don’t know where
 
Father why do we live so?
Father I look out and see no smiles,
What happened here?
Does no one hear what I hear?
 
Mother does no one see what I see
A whole playground around me
And softly swaying trees
Why don’t they open their eyes?
 
If they looked out and saw what I see, they might lay their guns down
 
If our lives pass by and we don’t do what’s right, we’ve got a lot of work to do today
If our lives pass by and we can’t be side by side, we’ve got a lot of work to do today
 
If they looked out and saw what I see, they might lay their guns down