Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below.
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own.
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So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill,
Asking for the buried treasure,
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.
Came an answer from the kingdom,
"With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there."
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Now the valley cried with anger,
"Mount your horses! Draw your swords!"
And they killed the mountain-people,
So they won their just reward.
Now they stood beside the treasure,
On the mountain, dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it...
"Peace on Earth" was all it said.
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Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
but there won't be any trumpets blowing
'Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....One tin soldier rides away.
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I was listening to this song on the way home from work this afternoon. Can anyone name the movie it comes from? I came home and searched the internet for the lyrics and found this story by John Luke which can be found here.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
....The song was written during the anti-war movement of the late 60's. Also going on at that time was the Six Day War of 1967 in Israel. The "Kingdom on a mountain" is none other than The Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It sits on Mt. Moriah. The people of the valley are the Muslim or Palestinian people who live in the Kidron Valley adjacent to Mt. Moriah. The Stone with the treasure underneath it is the stone that the Muslims claim Mohammed ascended and the Jews claim was the base in The Holy of Holies. The treasure underneath "the stone" which is up to 120ft.under the Temple mount is where the supposed hidden treasure of the Jewish treasury was. The Templars of the early 1000 a.d. were said to have found this treasure. The song closely discusses details of "The Crusades". The people of the Valley who did not want to share was none other than the leader of the Muslims, Saladin the Turkish leader who had restricted visitation of other religions to Jerusalem which in turn intitiated the crusades. Saladin(the Muslims) did regain the Temple Mount. So, the song's message is that we fight wars and shed blood for greed in the name of our God's but God just wants "Peace on Earth" as was written on the stone when it was turned over. The One Tin Soldier riding away just says that masses die in war on both sides and only one or a few are left. It sarcastically says go ahead and do evil but you will not escape your deeds on Judgment Day.
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Ironically, while riding home and listening to the song, I thought about the battles occuring overseas in the Middle East & SE Asia and the killing for today's gold (land, oil, religion, etc...) and then I come home and find the story above. How many bloody mornings after can we as humans endure and inflict on one another in the name of Heaven before there can be "Peace on Earth"? And now, comes word that Israeli children have been writing words of praise on the bombs that are being dropped in Lebanon. Just sickening!
