21 July 2013

The War Song — A Compassion Tune-Up in Honour of Innocent Victims

A climate change blogging friend of mine is becoming more despondent at the tough news coming in daily. I responded to his grief recently by sharing that "as the news gets worse, I feel my fortitude strengthening. I think I'm soon going to start blasting &^%$#@*s as I meet them!"

Well, forget meeting them. I'm going to blast a whole bunch of them, right here and now, online. I am blasting every single person in the United States of America who just goes along with the stupid American culture of guns, violence and war without standing up and speaking out for what's right and good and what needs changing. (Same goes for stupid Canadian culture that's imitating stupid American culture.)


I think the lyrics (below) to this song are too nice to "people." War doesn't make people stupid (okay, yes, it does); stupid people make war. And as Culture Club sings: "Now we're fighting in our hearts" as well as in the streets. 


"Won't somebody help me?" (p.s. This song often disappears from the internet, so please let me know if it's not below.)




The War Song 
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And love means nothing
In some strange quarters 
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And I heard them banging
On hearts and fingers 
People fill the world
With narrow confidence
Like a child at birth
A man with no defense 
What's mine is my own
I won't give it to you
No matter what you say
No matter what you do 
Now we're fighting
In our hearts
Fighting in the street
Won't somebody help me? 
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And love means nothing
In some strange quarters 
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And I heard them banging
On hearts and fingers 
Man is far behind
In the search for something new
Like a Philistine
We're burning witches too 
This world of fate
Must be designed for you
It matters what you say
It matters what you do 
Now we're fighting
In our hearts
Fighting in the street
Won't somebody help me? 
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And love means nothing
In some strange quarters 
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And I heard them banging
On hearts and fingers 
After the bird has flown
He walked ten thousand
Miles back home
You can't do that to me, no
You can't do that to me
You can't do that to me, no
You can't do that to me 
In this heart of mine
I find a place for you
For black or white
For all the children, too 
Now we're fighting
In our hearts
Fighting in the street
Won't somebody help me? 
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And love means nothing
In some strange quarters 
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And I heard them banging
On hearts and fingers
And what, you might be asking, does this song have to do with climate change? Easy. It's all connected. The "greatest nation on Earth" is kept in a state of fear, at war, tranquilized by television, so that the Money Power — which includes the families and the corporations most invested in fossil fuels — can carry on without challenge.

So many innocent victims. May their families find some peace, somewhere, sometime, somehow.

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I would appreciate hearing your thoughts or questions on this post or anything else you've read here. What is your take on courage and compassion being an important part of the solution to the climate change emergency?