Give Peace a Chance - in Shannon

national | miscellaneous | news report Sunday March 02, 2003 14:59 by Ian McDonald ian at theplateau dot com

A contemporary version of Give Peace a Chance, sung at Shannon, March 1st.

As the Guards boarded our bus on the way into Shannon, they payed special attention to my Guitar case. "What's in the case" one asked brusquely, "It's", I replied, "a guitar".

However farcical the episode, I would certainly like to believe that the subversiveness of the guitar merits special attention from the authorities.

Later, at the IAWM rally, I sang a song. My performance was, well, rather less than news worthy (espically with Damien Rice playing before and after), but I promised someone I'd put the words on indymedia, so here they are (comments/ criticism welcome)...

> Give Peace a Chance
>
> >Everybody's talking bout
> >Bush and Bertie
> >Bush and Tony,
> >Berlusconi,
> >Anzar
> >They're hands are
> >Itchy on the trigger
> >
> >And all we are saying
> >Is give peace a chance
> >
> >Everybody's on the street
> >With plackards
> >And banners
> >Here's Christy and Luka
> >And Shane singing ballads
> >Churches and Movements
> >Teachers and Students
> >Here's Labour and Greens
> >I Can't see where it ends
> >All the usual suspects, a hundred thousand new friends
> >Farmers and Gardai
> >PANA, NGOPA
> >Bertie says that he's happy
> >Sure he's got to be joking
> >Here's Trocaire, ICTU
> >Comhlamh and SIPTU,
> >Some friends of me Dad,
> >Clare going mad,
> >Aoife's granny voted Fianna Fail and she was there too
> >
> >And all we are saying...
>
> >Everybody's talking bout
> >Warplanes,
> >in Shannon,
> >especially Ciaron
> >and Karen,
> >Deirdra, Damien and Nuin,
> >They pray from prision for ploughshares, for this neutrality ruse
> >while Mary least-they-didn't-shoot-her Kelly's talking on the news.
> >
> >And all we are saying...
> >
> >Nobody's talking about
> >Maysoon or Sayyid,
> >Salah or Khalid,
> >Little Nuri or Hamid,
> >Starving for 12 years
> Forgotten, now who feels,
> >we need to bomb them for oilfields
> >And buddies
> >of Cheney
> And Dubya,
> >and Rumsfield?
> >
> >And all we are saying...