There Has to Be an End
Three sides, three perspectives, all end the same. Are we really that different?
(background – the 12th of July is an Orange Order day of celebration, in rememberance of when the Protestant King, King William*, defeated the Catholic King, King James, in the Battle of the Boyne, in the 1600′s. Now 400 years later, the sash refers to an emblem Orange sash that members still wear when parading. The infamous parades that occur are of Protestant believers thru Catholic neighborhoods, which fuels even more animosity, violence and hate – hate based on birth, not reason).
‘(.. From across the sea refers to England)
I first started singing this song when I was 8 or 10 years old,loved the beat, and the passion, of the song. My folks used to say I could see the big picture even then.
There Has to Be an End
(composer unknown)
Now Peter John McCoy was a sad village boy
and he sang songs of liberty, and praise, and rejoice
but the sights and sounds of nature were the thing that he loved best
and he got a bunch of flowers, when they laid him to rest
But there has to be an end to it someday,
To the torture that this land is going thru
and I hope I live to see it in my day
when our country will be one instead of two.
Now little Sammy Nelson, he came from the other side
and the 12th day of July was his joy and his pride
but in his heart there was no hay for it was young and gay
and they wrapped the sash around him, when they laid him into place.
But there has to be an end to it someday,
To the torture that this land is going thru
and I hope I live to see it in my day
when our country will be one instead of two.
Now Young Henry Baxter, he came from across the sea
and when he was a boy he said, a soldier he would be
but in the streets of Belfast, he fell at the sniper’s hand
a victim of a bitter hate, he didn’t understand.
But there has to be an end to it someday,
To the torture that this land is going thru
and I hope I live to see it in my day
when our country will be one instead of two.
_________
* Did you know the Scots were resettled (given free land) in Northern Ireland, in a “plantation” plan to repopulate and thereby become the majority – then Scots came to the U.S. and ended up in the Hills of Pennslyvania, Kentucky, West Virginia. So many named their children William – or Billy, in honor of King William that they eventually became known as hillbillys.