My father came from Japan in 1905
He was 15 when he immigrated from Japan
He worked until he was able to buy - to actually 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 "Issei"
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 Coming"
Pictures of soldiers dying and running
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 is all they gave them
When the kids asked mom: "Where are we going?"
Nobody even knew what to say to them
Ken didn't wanna lie, he said: "The US is looking for spies,
So we have to live in a place called Manzanar,
Where a lot of Japanese people are"
Stop it don't look at the gunmen
You don't wanna get the soldiers wondering
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, being so crowded
Someday we'll get out, someday, someday

As soon as war broke out
The F.B.I. came and they just come to the house and
"You have to come
All the Japanese have to go"
They took Mr. Ni
People didn't understand
Why did they have to take him?
Because he's an innocent laborer

So now they're in a town with soldiers surrounding 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 doing 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 joining the army
And supposedly, some men went out for the army, signed on
And ended up flying to Japan with a bomb
That 15 kilo tonne 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 wiping 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 camp