They're eating worms 'cus the crops have died

Drinking dew 'cus the well's run dry

Starving hungry and wondering why

It's always been this way

Their parents lived in direst need

With many hungry mouths to feed

The victims of their leader's greed

It's his debt they have to pay.

Chorus:

Cancel the debt, cancel the debt

We don't need their money, yet

We take all we can get

Cancel the debt.

If dust was diamonds they'd do fine

If the sun was gold they'd have a great big mine

If the moon was silver they'd always dine

Until they had their fill

They're not complaining but they're vexed

'bout another man's debt hanging round their necks

Someone else wrote out the cheques

And then sent them the bill.

Cancel the debt, cancel the debt

We don't need their money, yet

We take all we can get

Cancel the debt.

Imagine clearly if you can

What hopeless debt does to a man

Who works and slaves as hard he can

But stays forever poor

He pays his taxes, obeys the rules

Like many million other fools

Who'd rather it was spent on schools

Than paying for a war.

Cancel the debt, cancel the debt

We don't need their money, yet

We take all we can get

Cancel the debt.

You wouldn't like it much I bet

If you had to pay your grandad's debt

And you paid and paid and paid and yet

It never went away.

The future looks just like the past

The present seems to last and last

While the sum you owe is just so vast

That you'll never ever pay.

Cancel the debt, cancel the debt

We don't need their money, yet

We take all we can get

Cancel the debt.

Their ancestors had fought a war

We sold them guns and planes and more

And what they owe has kept them poor

As the payments must be made

Their children starve, it's still the same

It's not their fault, they're not to blame

It's down to us, have we no shame

Let's cancel out the debt.

Cancel the debt, cancel the debt

We don't need their money, yet

We take all we can get

Cancel the debt.

They owe us money and why should they

Be told that they don't have to pay

Life's not like that and anyway

We're all in the same plight

But we all have a safety net

And all our basic needs are met

While their children are born into debt

And that surely can't be right.

Cancel the debt, cancel the debt

We don't need their money, yet

We take all we can get

Cancel the debt.