This song was written near the end of our time in Israel, while staying with Hagay's grandparents in Kibbutz Be'eri, an Israeli settlement only a few miles from Gaza. Jogging along the kibbutz's perimeter one night I was witness to a surreal display as missiles, fired from military bases in Israel and in Gaza, lit up the horizon. Provoked by the awful magnitude of what I was witnessing, I wrote the following song to the beat of my feet on the dirt below me as I ran. The lyrics narrate my experience that night, reflecting on my simultaneous proximity and detachment from Gaza, as well as my thoughts on the Israeli/Arab conflict as a whole.
lyrics
The night is dark and silent and the air is cool and sweet
The dusty road below me pounds away beneath my feet
The sky is clear and cloudless, in the distance I can see
A far off glow, the city lights of Gaza
My heartbeat and my breath are still both under my control
Their solitary rhythm permeates my very soul
Above the wan horizon, like a distant thunder roll
I hear the bombs exploding over Gaza
A recent string of raids had all the news in flames today
They said among the dead and buried was a boy my brotherʼs age
Oh if I still believed in God, Iʼd surely kneel right down and pray
For no more bombs to echo over Gaza
Itʼs not so much a question of whoʼs wrong and who is right
Itʼs not which sideʼs to blame, or who is stronger in a fight
Only after pride is set aside will there exist a night
When no more bombs will echo over Gaza
Missiles rise, collide like fireworks!
Sirens call, shrapnel falls, and lives are buried in the dirt
Yellow buildings, charred and blackened earth
Beneath the bombs that echo over Gaza
I donʼt know what kinds of people live behind those concrete walls
And of cities in the distance, I know Gaza least of all
Even an honest man will lash out if his backʼs against the wall
Inside us all there burns a little bit of Gaza
Iʼm not one to offer council to a conflict that was spun
By years of blood and sweat and tears that soaked the ground on which I run
I canʼt begin to understand the need for kids to carry guns
For I grew up a world away from Gaza
But Oh! The bombs still echo in my head!
I donʼt know, I donʼt know whatʼs to be thought or done or said
Before the buildings echo peace instead
And war casts not a shadow over Gaza
credits
from Eye On The Platform,
released August 16, 2012
Composition: Jackson, Melody Vocals: Jackson, Harmony Vocals: Hagay, Fingerpicked Guitars: Jackson and Hagay, Lead Guitar: Hagay, Harmonica: Jackson
Gorgeous fingerstyle guitar playing from this Portland, Oregon musician that captures the spirit of American Primitive in dazzling detail. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 30, 2021
