Lyr Add: The End of a Pointed Gun (Grit Laskin)

Subject: ADD: Grit Laskin: The End of A Pointed Gun
From: GUEST,Feder
Date: 11 Jan 02 - 09:43 AM

Grit Laskin, one of The Friends Of Fiddler's Green in Toronto, and one of the best builders of acoustic guitars in the world, wrote this powerful song from the point of view of an Israeli father whose son was one of the atheletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympic Games.

Grit uses the melody to "Erev Shel Shoshanim," a traditional Hebrew folk song.

The End of A Pointed Gun
by William (Grit) Laskin

I've laboured through two world wars
An old war that still fights on
I'll dare any man says I've not worked
This land that I stand upon
A homeland both free and strong
To harbour my only son
I hoped he'd never see as I
The end of a pointed gun

My nation and my son, my nation and my son
One found its birth, one found his death
At the end of a pointed gun

Oh praised be Olympiad
Was echoed the whole world round
Nation to nation unified
On one chosen stretch of ground
Oh proud were the boys as mine
To play for their own country
I wish to God he'd never gone
But stayed with his family

My nation and my son, my nation and my son
One found its birth, one found his death
At the end of a pointed gun

The games scarcely had begun
When out of each winner's joy
Bloodshed rose unexpectedly
Eleven dead and one my boy
How does a father mourn
His murdered hopes and dreams?
How on this earth can he escape
The agonies he has seen?

My nation and my son, my nation and my son
One found its birth, one found his death
At the end of a pointed gun

I've laboured through two world wars
An old war that still fights on
I'll dare any man says I've not worked
This land my boy rests upon

My nation and my son, my nation and my son
One found its birth, one found his death
At the end of a pointed gun

Subject: RE: Grit Laskin: The End of A Pointed Gun
From: GUEST,sophocleese
Date: 11 Jan 02 - 10:29 PM

Thanks for reminding me of this song Feder. Its been a long time since I heard it but I loved it the first time I did. I've got to go find that tape again.

---

Messages from multiple threads combined. Messages below are from a new thread.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 12:06 PM

I heard a song by Grit Laskin called "End Of A Pointed Gun" on the radio and would appreciate the lyrics. Thanks.

Subject: RE: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: DaveJ
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 12:28 PM

Guest,

Your best bet is to go to the Borealis Records web site and buy this record. You'll be supporting Grit's fine work as an artist and you can learn the song by transcribing it yourself.

DaveJ

Subject: RE: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 02:09 PM

Maybe he sang it at the Millenium Stage concert (Kennedy Center), which is archived HERE.

If so you can transcribe it, and post it here!

~Susan

Subject: RE: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: DaveJ
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 02:48 PM

Wys,

I'm glad I'm not the only one who leaves out something out in my html once in a while. Your link to the Kennedy Ctr is missing a closing "a" after the slash. Thanks for the link to the Kennedy center.

The song in question is the 12th track on the first disc of Grit's "Unabashedly Folk" album. The album is a double CD re-release of two LPs from Grit's earlier work and well worth owning.

DaveJ

Subject: RE: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 03:04 PM

In the same way that Glenn Close could be a man, a woman, or an address, I think that Grit Laskin is either a southern food stuff or a sexual perversion.
Only Kidding ;-{)>.....Giok

Subject: RE: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 03:21 PM

At the End of a Pointed Gun

Lyrics by William Laskin Traditional melody to "Erev Shel Shoshanim"

I've laboured through two world wars An old war that still fights on I'll dare any man says I've not worked This land that I stand upon A homeland both free and strong To harbour my only son I hoped he'd never see as I The end of a pointed gun

Chorus:

My nation and my son, my nation and my son One found its birth, one found his death At the end of a pointed gun

Oh praised be Olympiad Was echoed the whole world round Nation to nation unified On one chosen stretch of ground Oh proud were the boys as mine To play for their own country I wish to God he'd never gone But stayed with his family

Chorus

The games scarcely had begun When out of each winner's joy Bloodshed rose unexpectedly Eleven dead and one my boy How does a father mourn His murdered hopes and dreams? How on this earth can he escape The agonies he has seen?

Chorus

I've laboured through two world wars An old war that still fights on I'll dare any man says I've not worked This land my boy rests upon

Chorus

Subject: RE: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: DaveJ
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 04:28 PM

(with line breaks added)

At the End of a Pointed Gun

Lyrics by William Laskin Traditional melody to "Erev Shel Shoshanim"

I've laboured through two world wars
An old war that still fights on
I'll dare any man says I've not worked
This land that I stand upon
A homeland both free and strong
To harbour my only son
I hoped he'd never see as I
The end of a pointed gun

Chorus:

My nation and my son,
my nation and my son
One found its birth,
one found his death
At the end of a pointed gun

Oh praised be Olympiad
Was echoed the whole world round
Nation to nation unified
On one chosen stretch of ground
Oh proud were the boys as mine
To play for their own country
I wish to God he'd never gone
But stayed with his family

Chorus

The games scarcely had begun
When out of each winner's joy
Bloodshed rose unexpectedly
Eleven dead and one my boy
How does a father mourn
His murdered hopes and dreams?
How on this earth can he escape
The agonies he has seen?

Chorus

I've laboured through two world wars
An old war that still fights on
I'll dare any man says I've not worked
This land my boy rests upon

Chorus

Subject: RE: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 04:40 PM

Thank you for the lyrics.

And I have just ordered the Cd.

Subject: RE: looking for Grit Laskin song
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 02 - 05:05 PM

There's TONS of stuff at the Kennedy Center-- I wish the 'net was faster today so I could have made a direct Gritlink.

~S~

Subject: Lyr Add: At The End Of A Pointed Gun
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jul 03 - 10:34 AM

At The End Of A Pointed Gun

Lyrics: Grit Laskin
Music: traditional melody of Erev Shel Shohanim

recordings by: Grit Laskin, the Tannahill Weavers

I've laboured through two world wars
An old war that still fights on
I'll dare any man says I've not worked
This land that I stand upon
A homeland both free and strong
To harbour my only son
I hoped he'd never see as I
The end of a pointed gun

Chorus:

   My nation and my son, my nation and my son
   One found its birth, one found his death
   At the end of a pointed gun

Oh praised be Olympiad
Was echoed the whole world round
Nation to nation unified
On one chosen stretch of ground
Oh proud were the boys as mine
To play for their own country
I wish to God he'd never gone
But stayed with his family

Chorus

The games scarcely had begun
When out of each winner's joy
Bloodshed rose unexpectedly
Eleven dead and one my boy
How does a father mourn
His murdered hopes and dreams?
How on this earth can he escape
The agonies he has seen?

Chorus

I've laboured through two world wars
An old war that still fights on
I'll dare any man says I've not worked
This land my boy rests upon

Chorus

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: At The End Of A Pointed Gun
From: Stewie
Date: 25 Jul 03 - 09:05 PM

Good song. Here is some background and a couple of textual variations from lyrics and notes supplied with the LP Grit Laskin 'Unmasked' Fogarty's Cove Music FCM-003.

Laskin set out his text in 4-line rather than 8-line stanzas. The chorus is set out in 5 lines.

Minor variations from Guest's text above:

Stanza 2/3 line 2: 'Was cried from the whole world round'
Stanza 2/3 line 3: 'Nation with nation unified'

Stanza 2/4 line 1: 'Oh young were the boys as mine'

Laskin's note is:

During the Olympics of 1972, held in Munich, eleven Israeli participants were held hostage and murdered by the Arab guerrilla group, Black September.

This song was written immediately after the fact to represent an emotional reaction to the event by a father of onw of the murdered athletes. The situation could have been northern Ireland or South Africa but I think the father's reaction would have been exactly the same, the anger and pain of the loss of a child combined with the fierce attachment to his homeland.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The End of a Pointed Gun (Grit Laskin)
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 10:01 AM

The Tannahill Weavers do a very moving live version of this on the CD Celtic Folk Festival. I had no idea it was written by the fine luthier Grit Laskin.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The End of a Pointed Gun (Grit Laskin)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Jan 24 - 06:52 PM

What does this song mean to us now?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The End of a Pointed Gun (Grit Laskin)
From: GerryM
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 12:06 AM

Joe, to me, it means pretty much what it always has meant. I don't see much difference between the Black September murderers who chose to slaughter athletes at the Munich Olympics, and the Hamas murderers who chose to slaughter or kidnap everyone they could this last 7th of October. Say what you will about Israel, neither action can be justified in any way, shape, or form. And I'm sure the residents of Sderot and the nearby kibbutzim that were targeted on 7 October have much the same feelings of attachment to the land and the same hopes for their children as did the father in the song.