Joe Jencks

We Cry Out

Written: 03/1998 I've always found it strange that my Granddad Kilbride came all the way from Ireland to the United States just in time to be drafted for World War I.  I consider myself fortunate never to have been called upon to be a soldier.  I have tremendous respect for the women and men that honor their native lands and kin through military service, and grieve that in our modern age, wars are still being fought.

Oh my granddad came from Ireland and in County Kildare
He was born in the town Athie in a little room upstairs
And he lived for eighteen years there 'til his family moved away
They bought passage on a sailing ship bound for Americay

Oh the year was 1914 and the war had just begun
When he stepped off Ellis Island for to sing sweet freedom's song
His new homeland gave him a uniform and handed him a gun
And sent him out to fight for the right of citizen

And I cry out no more, I will not fight this battle
I will not strike down my sisters and my brothers e'er again
And I cry out no more should our greed become the kindle
And our anger strike the match to light the flames of war again

Oh my father was a soldier too, he did what he though right
When his country called upon him and said that he must fight
Now they say that things are different and everything has changed
So why do I see children marching off to war again?

And I cry out no more, I will not fight this battle
I will not strike down my sisters and my brothers e'er again
And I cry out no more should our greed become the kindle
And our anger strike the match to light the flames of war again

Oh this battle has been raging nigh on ten thousand years
We've made rivers flow in deserts out of human blood and tears
Now I hear the swords a-rattling, feel a quiver in my heart
We must put them down and walk away before the raging starts

And I cry out no more, I will not fight this battle
I will not strike down my sisters and my brothers e'er again
And I cry out no more should our greed become the kindle
And our anger strike the match to light the flames of war again

From the fields of Northern Ireland to the deserts of Iraq
From the streets of Sarajevo to the hills of Pakistan
And from North and South Korea to Angola's war-torn shore
People 'round the world cry out for peace and say "We'll fight no more"

And I cry out no more, I will not fight this battle
I will not strike down my sisters and my brothers e'er again
And I cry out no more should our greed become the kindle
And our anger strike the match to light the flames of war again

We cry out no more
© 1998 Joe Jencks