The Daily Boost #741

We're fools to make war

This is Memorial Day in the US. But, around the world, let us remember and honor the war dead by rededicating ourselves to the hard work of peace-making.

I first heard this song decades ago, performed by Joan Baez. But this raw version by songwriter Mark Knopfler (once of the rock band Dire Straits) runs even deeper.

The narrator of the song is a soldier dying on the battlefield, yearning for “one world.” His final words: “We’re fools to make war on our brothers [and sisters] in arms.”

BROTHERS IN ARMS
Mark Knopfler

These mist-covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Someday you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn to be
Brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed your suffering
As the battle raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

(My thanks to Mark Knopfler.)

The Gentle Nudge

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