A Perfect Song for Our Troubled Times

By ROB PATTERSON

As I write this, Israeli forces are wreaking havoc in Gaza. Yes, the Hamas attack on civilians was a heinous act of the worst sort. But the response only compounds the horrifying bloody mess between Israelis and Palestinians, and further dims any chance of peace in the region for what could be a number of generations. Violence and hatred on both sides only breeds more of the same.

This conflict is personal with me, as I lived through the 1973 Yom Kippur War in Israel as a college student on a kibbutz study group. The experience bonded me with Israeli and its Jews; I also interacted with Israeli Arabs during my stay. And I came to adore the place – especially its coast on the warm Mediterranean Sea – and its balmy climate and lovely environment. If it weren’t for the long-raging conflict, it’s somewhere I could enjoy living.

Among the most impactful events in that lively four months I spent in the Holy Land were my two visits to Jerusalem, the most magical and beautiful locale where I have ever spent time. I recall overlooking the Old City from atop the Mount of Olives and marveling at the luminous charm of the sunlight reflecting off the Jerusalem stone of the Old City’s walls and buildings. It only underscored why it’s a sacred place for three faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Years later, in 2002, the brilliant rebel country-rocker Steve Earle released an aptly-titled album named Jerusalem, with many songs pondering the post-9/11 world. Naturally I was drawn to the record’s title song and final number – a beautiful and majestic prayer for peace. Not long after, I saw Earle in concert with perhaps my favorite lineup of his backing band, The Dukes – and not just because two of its four members, guitarist Eric Ambel and drummer Will Rigby, are friends from my New York City years – and when they played “Jerusalem,” it engulfed me like a huge wave. I marveled how it was one of the finest pieces of songwriting I ever heard (and I have heard an almost countless amount of superior songs).

Here’s where you, if you like, fire up your streaming service or go to You Tube and play the song. I’ve been listening to it a lot in recent weeks. Its opening line could well have been written in the wake of what’s happened since October 7:

I woke up this morning, and none of the news was good
Death machines were rumblin’ ‘cross the ground where Jesus stood
And the man on my TV told me that it had always been that way
And there was nothing anyone could do or say

Its chorus expresses my deepest hope and desire for the future in a place I lived and came to love:

And I believe that on that day all the children of Abraham
Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem

The last of the song’s three bridges rarely fails to bring tears to my eyes:

And there’ll be no barricades then
There’ll be no wire or walls
And we can wash all this blood from our hands
And all this hatred from our souls

Like the best topical songs of Bob Dylan, “Jerusalem” continues to come back around to be relevant in the most powerful ways.

Shalom. Salaam. Let’s all pray – or use whatever invocation you favor – for peace in the Middle East.

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Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email robpatterson054@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, December 15, 2023

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