Under The Olive Tree

We call you from Gallipoli

We call you from Gallipoli – the Light Brigade – the River Kwai
From death camps on the Mekong, and from mountain’s cave and den
We call you from desertion to the wilderness and scented bed

From Flanders Fields and Auschwitz – from Stalingrad and Diamond Head
From hulls of sulking vessels where you there entombed let out your desperate cry
From revolutions barricades and terror in the night

Rise up you citizens of Dresden, Hiroshima, and ye men of countless other struggles, wars and conflicts, ye who bore the sword and died in trenches, lost at sea or given to the scourge of barren inhumanity
We call you – here to witness
We call you to proclaim
The futility of our supposed
Redemption of ourselves

The darkness that surrounds us
That we all know all too well

We summon you to stand before us
And in simplicity to tell
That we might find the way to honor
All your sacrifice

Ye perished from the conflicts
All who’ve borne the searing flame of the men who rode in conquest
We are calling out your names

For the scourge is come upon us
And we’re drifting into night
The wars are on every side
Soon to ebb and flow to one
These earthly kingdoms failing
Tribulation has begun

Seers and prophets gone before
Have given warning of these days
Now the skies are full of violence
All around we see the haze
Of the burning and the night
Is filled with tremors and
With cries

So we summon you before us
In your endless ranks
To tell, that the road
Of our determination
Is most sure the road to Hell

We call you here as witnesses
Against the rising tide
When destruction comes upon us
That you’ll stand here by our side

Give us your voice
Seasoned and tempered
Yea, one hundred million strong
Gather here from every nation
Every corner of the Earth
Every tongue and every tribe
Every child, every bride

Sing to us a song of redemption
Lest we follow thee in vain
Call upon us to prevent
Further bloodshed, further stain
Further war and further slaughter
Further insolence and pain

Close your ranks
As you surround us
From the killing fields
Now past

Shout your anthems
Stand before us
Yours to speak and signify
That in war we’re all consumed
In the adverse flames and wrought
For a futile celebration
That your lives were given for naught

We call you from Gallipoli
From Flanders Fields
From Nagasaki’s bomb
We call you from your killing fields
We call you from your tombs

We call in desperation
For we see the hour come
That except these days
Are shortened – none
Will prevail, all will perish
Every war was fought in vain

We are calling you as witnesses
We are calling you by name

The night is falling
And we are alone
The cold is overcoming
And though the stars shine bright
We seek to walk among you
O’ surround us with your light
Purchased with the
Gift and treasure
Of your substance and your lives.