Us and Them

by Matthew Levine

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lyrics

Us and Them
Matthew Levine

One day a wayward soldier marching to his inner drum
took a crowd to Kingdom Come
His message was exploded from a yellow bus,
a note from them to us

A corner of our world collapsed on one September day
in a backyard kind of way
Our self-possession went up in that funeral pyre,
now we fight fire with fire

Us and them, them and us
We have to have our way, there's nothing to discuss
for we must win, and we are keeping score
But do we know that if it comes down to us and them,
we’ve already lost the war

By the wayside lies a terror-stricken child of two or three
orphaned in a shooting spree
Now in darkness she has nothing but a shattered heart,
her world torn apart.

Us and them, them and us
We have to have our way, there's nothing to discuss
For we must win, and we are keeping score
But do we know that if it comes down to us and them,
we’ve already lost the war

A foreign photograph, a cartoon explanation
A first impression, one more misinterpretation
It’s the world according to the colored view I’m looking through.
But what is true?
I may not have the answers but my soul knows what to do.

I will sing my love across the great divide
No longer fettered by the chains of patriotic pride
May it wing its way through every open door
Sowing seeds of peace where there were none before

As I intone this prayer, may it go far and wide
A living will borne of the broken dreams that never died
Let the blues we’ve sung for ages become history
May our hallowed hymns of hope resound in resound in unity

credits

released April 21, 2024
Music, lyric, vocal by Matthew Levine
arrangement by Matthew Levine and Kipper Eldridge
Produced, mixed and mastered by Kipper Eldridge
Tracking by Bob e Burnham
sound support by Jiminy Riffney

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Matthew S. Levine Vilcabamba, Ecuador

Matthew S. Levine

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