La Colombe
Echoes of War: Reflections on Sacrifice
Lyrics
Why all these bugles crying for squads of young men drilled
Questioning the purpose of bugles calling young men for military drills.
To kill and to be killed and waiting by this train?
Questioning the cycle of killing and being killed, waiting for war.
Why the orders loud and hoarse, why the engine's groaning cough
Wondering about the loud commands and the strained engine sound leading to war.
As it strains to drag us off into the holocaust?
Expressing the agony of being dragged into a catastrophic event (holocaust).
Why crowds who sing and cry, and shout and fling us flowers
Questioning the crowds supporting war and sacrificing their rights for others to kill and die.
And trade their right for ours to murder and to die?
Highlighting the irony of celebrating violence instead of love.
The dove has torn her wings so no more songs of love
Metaphorically describing the dove (symbol of peace) being harmed, indicating the destruction of love and peace.
We are not here to sing, we're here to kill the dove
Stating the purpose of being present is not to sing but to destroy peace.
Why has this moment come when childhood has to die
Questioning the necessity for childhood innocence to be lost.
When hope shrinks to a sigh and speech into a drum?
Describing a moment where hope diminishes to a sigh, and words turn into a tool of war.
Why are they pale and still, young boys trained overnight
Questioning the stillness and paleness of young boys forced into immediate military service.
Conscripts forced to fight and dressed in gray to kill?
Describing conscripts dressed in gray, emphasizing the dehumanizing aspect of war.
These rain clouds massing tight, this train load battle bound
Depicting ominous rain clouds and a train heading towards a battlefield.
This moving burial ground sent thundering toward the night
Referring to the train as a moving burial ground, symbolizing death on the way to battle.
Why statues towering brave above the last defeat
Questioning the purpose of towering statues commemorating past defeats.
Old word and lies repeat across the new made grave?
Noting the repetition of old words and lies around a newly made grave.
Why the same still birth that victory always brought
Questioning why victory brings the same lifelessness and glory bought at the cost of human lives.
These hoards of glory bought by men with mouths of earth?
Highlighting the paradox of glory achieved by men with mouths filled with earth (graves).
Dead ash without a spark where cities glittered bright
Depicting the aftermath of war, where vibrant cities turn into dead ash without any spark of life.
For guns probe every light and crush it in the dark
Describing the destruction caused by guns extinguishing every light, leaving darkness.
And why your face undone with jagged lines of tears
Asking about the emotional distress reflected in the lines on a person's face.
That gave in those first years all peace I ever won?
Reflecting on the tears that took away the peace obtained in earlier years.
Your body in the gloom, the platform fading back
Depicting a gloomy scene with a person's body, a fading platform, and a shadow on the track, resembling a flower on a tomb.
Your shadow on the track, a flower on a tomb
Symbolizing the emotional weight and sorrow associated with departure and loss.
And why these days ahead when I must let you cry
Questioning the upcoming days where the person must endure tears and live prepared for death, hinting at a strained relationship due to the impact of war.
And live prepared to die as if our love were dead?
Expressing the existential challenge of maintaining love in the face of impending death.
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