Kenji (Explicit)

My father came from Japan in 1905

He was 15 when he immigrated from Japan

He he he worked until he was able to buy this patch

And build a store

Let me tell you the story in the form of a dream

I don't know why I have to tell it but I know what it means

Close your eyes just picture the scene

As I paint it for you it was World War II

When this man named Kenji woke up

Ken was not a soldier

He was just a man with a family who owned a store in LA

That day he crawled out of bed like he always did

Bacon and eggs with wife and kids

He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran

He moved to LA from Japan

They called him 'Immigrant '

In Japanese he'd say he was called Esay

That meant 'First Generation In The United States '

When everyone was afraid of the Germans afraid of the Japs

But most of all afraid of a homeland attack

And that morning when Ken went out on the doormat

His world went black 'cause

Right there front page news

Three weeks before 1942

Pearl Harbour's Been Bombed And The Japs Are Comin'

Pictures of soldiers dyin' and runnin'

Ken knew what it would lead to

Just like he guessed the President said

The evil Japanese in our home country will be locked away

They gave Ken a couple of days

To get his whole life packed in two bags

Just two bags couldn't even pack his clothes

Some folks didn't even have a suitcase to pack anything in

So two trash bags was all they gave them

When the kids asked mum Where are we goin'

Nobody even knew what to say to them

Ken didn't wanna lie he said The US is lookin' for spies

So we have to live in a place called Mandinar

Where a lot of Japanese people are

Stop it don't look at the gunmen

You don't wanna get the soldiers wonderin'

If you gonna run or not

'Cause if you run then you might get shot

Other than that try not to think about it

Try not to worry 'bout it bein' so crowded

Someday we'll get out someday someday

As soon as war broke out

The G I came and they just come to the house and

You have to come

All the Japanese have to go

They took Mr Lee

People didn't understand

Why did they have to take him

Because he's an innocent labourer

So now they're in a town with soldiers surroundin' them

Every day every night look down at them

From watch towers up on the wall

Ken couldn't really hate them at all

They were just doin' their job and

He wasn't gonna make any problems

He had a little garden with vegetables and fruits that

He gave to the troops in a basket his wife made

But in the back of his mind he wanted his families life saved

Prisoners of war in their own damn country

What for

Time passed in the prison town

He wanted them to live it down when they were free

The only way out was joinin' the army

And supposedly some men went out for the army signed on

And ended up flyin' to Japan with a bomb

That 15 kilotonne blast put an end to the war pretty fast

Two cities were blown to bits the end of the war came quick

Ken got out big hopes of a normal life with his kids and his wife

But when they got back to their home

What they saw made them feel so alone

These people had trashed every room

Smashed in the windows and bashed in the doors

Written on the walls and the floor

Japs not welcome anymore

And Kenji dropped both of his bags at his sides and just stood outside

He looked at his wife without words to say

She looked back at him wiped the tears away

And said Someday we'll be okay someday

Now the names have been changed but the story's true

My family was locked up back in '42

My family was there it was dark and damp

And they called it an internment camp

When we first got back from camp uhh

It was pretty pretty bad

I I remember my husband said

Are we gonna stay 'til last

Then my husband died before they close the

END