“This song was left over from the previous, self-titled, album sessions and was conceived as a sequel to “The Miseries Never Cease”, a song from the first TLF EP of the same name. It follows the story of a man who leaves famine ridden Ireland (where his wife and young daughter die) to America. He works hard and makes some gains, taking a new wife and having a son. Then civil war breaks out. He has a personal stake in the war because his new wife is black. I am not certain how historically accurate this scenario could be but the timelines did seem to check out when I was researching the subject.” ~ Jono

“From Misery to
Blood-Drenched Fields”

Music by The Living Fields
Lyrics by Jon Higgs

There I was alone
On shores distant from my homeland
Here I've found this brave new world
About to be thrown in turmoil
It seems I'll never be at peace
The tide will change to one of war

A darkened skin set free
With ebon smooth beauty
And new life at the breast
We can see a hard road lies ahead

This woman once a slave
Taught me to feel again
A face to justify
A war that was not mine
And enclose all the love I have
It will dull the pain of my past

And so it begins on April 12
Fort Sumpter surprised and overwhelmed
Followed by more breakaway states
Then answered by naval blockade

The blood spilled at Shiloh
A sign of things to come
Cannot spare a man who fights
And so I...go to war

The order comes for the cannons to give the morning roar
At dawn, September 17, vision of hell will haunt me on (always)
Bloodied pieces of men cut down and robbed of their youth
They walk in lines to destruction, from misery to blood drenched fields

Every stalk of corn was cut so closely as could have been done with a knife
The slain lay in rows as precisely as the ranks that they stood in moments before
The bloodiest day in history, these United States nearly broken apart

The war is over for me, but thank God that I am in one piece
I can return to the hopes I left behind
To elevate condition of men, hundreds of thousands have died in the end
To have a chance and one day be truly free

Start from scratch again and teach my son to be a man
A happy ideal to have...

 
Copyright 2012 © The Living Fields | Contact