Strange Ways

Strange Ways What happened here? In this place of peace
what happened here to make music cease
what happened when the music stopped, ah, the bodies dropped
We watch in horror as people cried
We watch in horror as music died
Blood on the dance floor, death in the streets, in a city of dreams And I heard someone say God moves in strange ways
And I heard someone say Strange Ways The laughter stopped drowned by fear
Broken lives, a city of tears
Murder in the market, terror in the town. Love breaking down
If a baby born is taught to hate, for colour or creed to discriminate
We’re laid to waste in eternal shame. In who’s name? And I heard someone say God moves in strange ways
And I heard someone say
And I heard someone say God moves in strange ways
And I heard someone say Strange Ways Must we always bow our heads before the Gods of War?
Taking up arms praying peace is what we’re fighting for
But before you pull the trigger take a good look into my eyes
In every holy war you’ll find that God is always on both sides. If a baby born is taught to hate, for colour or creed to discriminate
We’re laid to waste of eternal shame. In who’s name? And I heard someone say God moves in strange ways
And I heard someone say
And I heard someone say God moves in strange ways
And I heard someone say Strange Ways Must we always bow our heads before the Gods of War?
Taking up arms praying peace is what we’re fighting for
But before you pull the trigger take a good look into my eyes
In every holy war you’ll find that God is always on both sides.

Strange Ways – part of the lyric was written after the terrible Bataclan and Manchester bombings – terror hitting people out enjoying music. It seemed such a juxtaposition – such madness to take innocent life as some form of revenge – to spread terror to innocents. Nothing new in this world I guess – we’ve seen it all before – God moves in mysterious ways is something we have all heard.

Then, it got me a bit closer. My son worked in Borough Market by London Bridge and was there on the night of the terror attack in London. It didn’t take long for us to establish all was well with him – but all was not well for a lot of other people. The personal shock brought this home to me. I finished off the lyric – in particular the last verse and bridge. Iago had written a haunting piece of music that just fell together with the words. When Dre added the melody and then built the tension of the song as it grew and grew – with Amanda’s frenzied drumming building the final bridge – I think we have tried to say something about those moments and if there is something of a theme to some of the songs on this album – about other moments of madness too. No Pasaran is, on one level, about the political hurricane raging round the world now and how we are sleepwalking into the storm – but let’s not forget the madness that gave us Guernica and other evils. History teaches nothing, we make the same mistakes?
Graeme