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#116 HIROSHIMA (NEVER AGAIN)

by Peter Kearney

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HIROSHIMA (NEVER AGAIN)

A lovely summer’s morning - bright blue sky,
Sixth of August, nineteen forty five.
People on their way to work and school,
Such a morning - good to be alive.
High above the town there’s a plane
Cruising in a clear, spacious sky;
Something falls, seems so small
But it falls like a knife,
Falls for fifteen seconds and then ...

The flash had the brightness of a thousand suns,
Those looking had their eyes burned right out.
Man, just like a god, made another sun
Clever as a devil there’s no doubt.
But the sun brought death instead of life,
Plunged a day into the terrors of the night;
No use to make a dash ‘cause the furnace of the flash
Leaves nothing but your shadow on the wall ...
That’s all that remains.

Where man’s sun had blazed burned such a hole
A vacuum that the air now rushed to fill.
So there came the blast like a hundred hurricanes
A-Bomb has many ways to kill.
Blasted the land for miles and miles,
Blew bodies like dead leaves into piles,
Picked up cars, trucks and prams - didn’t give a damn
Hurled them through the air to kill some more.
Ignored every cry, ignored every tear ...
There’s a demon at work in the world of men
Hiroshima could happen again.

INTERLUDE

Then the firestorm came and scorched the earth -
Scores of fires bellowed by the wind.
High and mighty man, you’ve made another hell,
Now back to heaven on your shiny wings of tin.
Don’t look back or you’ll see the people burn
Little people far beneath your high concerns
Trapped by leaping walls of flame,
Calling out the names
Of mothers, fathers, friends - but they’re gone.

Then there was darkness all over the Earth,
Deadly mushroom cloud overhead.
People still alive in the land of the dead,
Babies still awaiting birth.
Then black rain began to fall,
Spewed the soil and rivers with its poison
All the dying’s not yet done, the cancer’s begun
See it’s creeping and reaching to the core.
We can’t just stand by.
We’ve all got to try: look death in the eye,
Its power deny, no longer comply.
Speak truth not the lie.
There’s a movement at work in the world of men:
Hiroshima never again!

*******

Words and music by Peter Kearney
Copyright © 1984 Peter Kearney.
This song is registered with One License, APRA and AMCOS.
Church and school licences through 'One License'.
E: info@onelicense.net

lyrics

BACKGROUND:
I wrote this song to sing at Hiroshima Day commemorations in Bowral on the Southern Highlands of NSW, August 6, 1983.

'Hiroshima Day' is observed on August 6 each year to commemorate the day in 1945 when the USA dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, killing more than 140,000 people. The bombing annihilated a large swathe of the city. My song is a graphic description of the explosion. Three days later, another bomb was exploded over Nagasaki.

Some details of my description were taken from an account of the blast by Philip Noel-Baker, a British politician who was involved in both attempts at world peace organisation - the League of Nations and the United Nations.
P.K.

*******

credits

released July 20, 2023
RECORDED at Platypus Studio, Brogers Creek, NSW, Australia.

Produced and arranged by Peter Kearney.
Sound engineer - Nic Lyon

Lead vocal, guitar, tenor and descant recorders by Peter Kearney.
Acoustic double bass by Nic Lyon.

*******

AVAILABLE RESOURCES with links to Peter's online shop:

* AUDIO. This song was one of twelve tracks on Peter's first studio album 'Turn It All Around' (Songs for Peace and Justice). Originally published on cassette-tape, now available as custom-CD. Link: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/356151

* This song is also one of 36 tracks on 'Make Me a Song' (The Best of 25 Years), a double-CD compilation of Peter's songs. Link: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/356147

* PDF MUSIC for this song is available: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/917889

* Also available, CD-ROM with PDF music for this song and many others from the 'Make Me a Song' compilation. Link: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/554037

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Peter Kearney Mittagong, Australia

Peter Kearney is an Australian songwriter and singer. His early folk-hymns 'Fill My House' & 'The Beatitudes' are internationally known. He has written many other songs of justice and peace, songs for children, and a musical-narrative on St. Francis of Assisi. His published recordings include 153 original songs.

LINKS BELOW are for Peter's:
- Website
- Online store
- Facebook Artist Page. ... more

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