I mentioned this on a thread recently, (Do you sing songs at particular times?) as an appropriate song for the time of year, and particularly appropriate this year.


THE QUIET PEOPLE
(Anne Lister)

And the evening shadows
Swoop and fall and lengthen
And we hear the sound
Of a church bell ringing
And we pass the statue,
A black angel flying
And beneath it written
Names and dates of dying.

Oh your father hated mine
And my father killed yours
In the time-honoured fashion,
In the ways of long-outdated wars
For politicians never know
And commanders soon forget
That a country is more than
The men in a government.

And the history books make sure
That traditions last and last
And that we never can forget
Any injury done in the past
And the quiet people
Believe that wars will never end
Never knowing that if they linked hands,
They could make the world a friend.

So now I'll sing no anthems,
Songs of death and glory
And I'll stand beneath no flag,
Shout no cheers for victory
And I vow that I will
Live my life in harmony
And teach my children's children
To love my father's enemies.


As sung by Sara Grey and Ellie Ellis on You Gave Me a Song (August 1986) Greenwich Village Records, Sowerby Bridge.
NMK