We Didn’t Know

[Chorus]
We didn't know at all, we didn't see a thing
You can't hold us to blame, what could we do?
It was a terrible shame, but we can’t bear the blame
Oh no, not us, we didn't know

[Verse 1]
"We didn’t know", said the burgermeister, "about those camps at the edge of town
It was Hitler and his crew that tore the German nation down
We saw the cattle cars, it's true, and maybe they carried a Jew or two
They woke us up as they rattled through, but what did you expect me to do"?

[Chorus]
We didn't know at all, we didn't see a thing
You can't hold us to blame, what could we do?
It was a terrible shame, but we can't bear the blame
Oh no, not us, we didn't know

[Verse 2]
"We didn’t know", said the congregation singing a hymn in a church of white
"The press was full of lies about us, preacher told us we were right
The outside agitators came, they burned some churches and they put the blame
On decent Southern peoples names, to set our colored folks aflame
And maybe some of our boys got hot, and a couple of niggers and reds got shot
They should've stayed where they belong, the preacher would've told us if we'd done wrong"

[Chorus]
We didn't know at all, we didn't see a thing
You can't hold us to blame, what could we do?
It was a terrible shame, but we can't bear the blame
Oh no, not us, we didn't know

[Verse 3]
"We didn’t know", said the puzzled voter watching the President on TV
"I guess we gotta drop those bombs, if we're gonna keep south Asia free
The president's such a peaceful man, I guess he's got some kind of plan
They say we're torturing prisoners of war, but I don't believe that stuff no more
Torturing prisoners is a communist game, and you can bet they're doing the same
I wish this war was over and through, but what do you expect me to do"?

[Chorus]
We didn't know at all, we didn't see a thing
You can't hold us to blame, what could we do?
It was a terrible shame, but we can't bear the blame
Oh no, not us, we didn't know

[Chorus]
We didn't know at all, we didn't see a thing
You can't hold us to blame, what could we do?
It was a terrible shame, but we can't bear the blame
Oh no, not us, we didn't know