Singing About Holy War

July 12, 2014 in Montana

by lizard

Readers of this blog may have noticed the poetry series I try to update weekly has been on hiatus for awhile. While there is no specific reason for the hiatus, a good portion of my creative impulse has been directed toward song-writing. I have over a dozen songs I’ve been working on in preparation for recording them, so until this little project runs its course, I’m not going to be putting up poetry posts.

For me, songs require tighter adherence to rhythm and rhyme. Taking topics I write about in less structured ways (blog posts and poems) and trying to create songs forces me to be as concise as possible, which I greatly enjoy.

The songs share a thematic concept, which the working title of the album (if I can call it that at this point) highlights: Rise of the Gnostics.

I have written about Gnosticism in previous posts, like this one from August, 2012, so if you’re interested in learning more about this obscure branch of ancient Christianity, check out the post.

I bring this up now because it appears we are on the precipice of a full-blown Holy War:

On the eve of a threatened ground invasion of Gaza, the commander of the Israeli army’s Givati Brigade has told his soldiers that they are engaged in a war to “wipe out” an “enemy who defames” God.

In a Hebrew language letter to his troops published by Israel’s NRG news website and laden with bibilical references, Colonel Ofer Winter writes, “History has chosen us to be the sharp edge of the bayonet of fighting the terrorist enemy ‘from Gaza’ which curses, defames and abuses the God of Israel’s battles.”

“We will act together forcefully and with resolve, with initiative and with deceptive tricks and aim for contact with the enemy. We will do everything to live up to the mission and wipe out the enemy and remove the threat from the Nation of Israel,” Winter’s letter adds.

In Hebrew, the phrase used for “Nation of Israel” refers specifically and only to Jews.

I have a song I wrote a few days ago that I will share below. I have an audio recording of me actually singing it, but I ran into some technical difficulties converting the file into a format I could put in the post, so for now it will be just the lyrics.

*

PROTECTED EDGE

cast your lead
into pillars of cloud
then Palestine dogs
won’t bark so loud

burn boys bodies
kill girls with cars
for god’s chosen people
it’s never too far

but god is a monster
blocking the sun
and the shadows I see
don’t know where to run

ask for her back
and if he won’t give
it’s time to attack
the way we live

so protect your edge
and let hell rain down
Palestine rats
can go underground

the ones who poke up
improve your aim
who will care
since the world’s insane?

I hope one day
the Gnostics rise
and powerless people
open up their eyes

the clouds will pass
and cities fall down
and god can have
his holy dirt mound