Juna/They were all here

Synopsis: A time lapse of Tunisia’s history from the stone age to the modern age of boot licking. Znous is a tunisian hardcore punk band, inspired by what remains from the country’s collective awareness of its own misery. This song is called “They were all here”, and it a shout out to Tunisia, Algeria, north Africa and to the whole continent.

Lyrics:
The romans and the vandals invaded us
but they couldn’t handle us
The spaniards and the turks invaded us
but they couldn’t handle us
Mr Jean and the gauls invaded us
but they couldn’t handle us
And then came the arabs
and they managed to screw us

The germans and the italians invaded us
but they couldn’t handle us
The phoenicians from Lebanon invaded us
but they couldn’t handle us
The latins and the normans invaded us
but they couldn’t handle us
Until we met Banu Hilal(1)
and they managed to screw us

Here came the independence and Habib Bourgiba (2)
We didn’t understand shit
Here came button shirts and trousers
But we didn’t understand shit
Here came Mzali(3) who fucked it up
and we didn’t understand shit
Here came Wasila(4)..oh shit!
We got truly humiliated

Here came Bouazizi(5), played with fire
We didn’t understand shit
Here came Rachid Ammar(6) and his snipers
We didn’t understand shit
Here came ZABA(7) on the national TV
We truly didn’t get shit
But the motherfucker was already at the airport..
We got truly humiliated

Here came Lembazzaa(8) and Bajbouj(9)
They couldn’t handle us
The came the bastards and the clown(10)
We got truly humiliated
Here came Daechs(11) and the terrorists They slaughtered us and murdered us
Here came that piece of shit called Ghannouchi(12)
he managed to screw us

They killed Chokri Belaid(13) in an ambush
Only to pray at his grave afterwards
They violated our borders and smuggled weapons in
Sold them and shared the benefits
They sent brainwashed people to fight for ISIS in Syria
and who knows where else…
When our people wanted to revolt
they didn’t care about the odds..

References:
(1)Banu Hilal: A confederation of arabian tribes who invaded north africa in the 11th century
(2)Habib Bouguiba: The first president of the tunisian republic (1957-1987), formed after the independance from France
(3)Mohamed Mzali: A corrupt politician from the Bourguiba Era, Prime Minister (1980-1986), sentenced for fraud
(4)Wassila Ben Ammar: First Lady of Tunisia from 1962 to 1986
(5)Mohamed Bouazizi: The man who officially “started” the arab spring by setting himself on fire in late 2010
(6)Rachid Ammar: A former General in the tunisian army
(7)ZABA: Zine El Abidine Ben Ale, tunisia’s president from 1987 until the arab spring
(8)Fouad Lembazzaa: An interim president during the unrest of the revolution
(9)Beji Caid Essebsi: Tunisia’s late president (2015 – 2019)
(10)The clown: a reference to Moncef El Marzouki, Tunisia’s president from 2011 to 2014
(11)Daech: The arab name of the terrorist organization ISIS
(12)Rached El Ghannouchi: Leader of the Ennahdha Party/Movement
(13)Chokri Belaid: A tunisian leftist politician who fought for the separation of politics and religion, and was eventually assassinated for, his murder has not been solved to this day

جُونا