Peace on Earth.

When I first began blogging, I made a vow to myself that I would never post poetry or song lyrics; it just isn't me. Well, I'm about to break that vow. I was listening to U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind" yesterday and I was struck with the timeliness of one of the songs. Written by a band that is all too familiar with the devastating impact of terrorism on a society, it reflects the irony-tinged hopefulness of the war-weary. The song was written in the aftermath of the car bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland in 1998 that killed 29 people, mostly women and children; in the aftermath of over 30 years of Troubles and 300 years of political and religious strife.

Peace on Earth

Heaven on Earth
We need it now
I'm sick of all of this
Hanging around
Sick of sorrow
Sick of pain
Sick of hearing again and again
That there's gonna be
Peace on Earth

Where I grew up
There weren't many trees
Where there was we'd tear them down
And use them on our enemies
They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you
And you become a monster
So the monster will not break you

It's already gone too far
Who said that if you go in hard
You won't get hurt

Jesus could you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
Tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
No whos or whys
No one cries like a mother cries
For Peace on Earth
She never got to say goodbye
To see the color in his eyes
Now he's in the dirt
That's Peace on Earth

They're reading names out over the radio
All the folks the rest of us won't get to know
Sean and Julia, Gareth, Ann and Breda
Their lives are bigger, than any big idea

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
To tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth

Jesus this song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on Earth
Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won't rhyme
So what's it worth?
This peace on Earth.

Copyright U2, Lyrics: Bono, Music: U2