Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24

I finally got round to putting up my Christmas tree and is customary I have to play some TSO.

Today's song has no words, it's simply the "Carol of the Bells" but played with a bit more soul. The story behind this one is found in both "Dead Winter Dead" and "Christmas Eve and Other Stories".

As the story goes, an old man returns to war-torn Sarajevo, the city of his birth as he feels he needs to be there as things come apart. Then on Christmas eve he climbs to a pile of rubble while the missiles are fired and begins to play.

Sadly as the story tells, in "Dead Winter Dead" the old man is killed by falling missiles, but his song managed to save a couple of young people. Perhaps that is the true meaning of Christmas, to save the world, one at a time.

This story while directly linked to "Dead Winter Dead" comes from "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" where an angel is sent to earth to find the meaning of Christmas. He hears this song as he's flying about, looking for the meaning of Christmas.

As he flew o'er Sarajevo
There were scars upon the land
There were scars upon the people
It was hard to understand

And the deepest scars of all
Which to humans are unseen
But the angel could see clearly
Were the scars upon the dreams

Like Belfast and Burundi
Rwanda, Palestine
The only decorations here
Had been awarded for their crimes

And in gardens where the children played
Now soldiers only trod
And stranger still, he heard some say
That they were killing for their god

Now the angel heard god speak many times
And he had always paid attention
But this killing of ones neighbor
Was something the Lord had never mentioned

But as he neared the earth
Of a recent battleground
From among the ruins
He once more heard the sound

It was a single cello playing
A forgotten Christmas song
And even on that battlefield
The song somehow belonged

And as he flew away
The angel did take note
That where he found this music played
One always could find hope

One can only hope that they would bring cheer and song, even in the most difficult of times.

Sarajevo

Well... the world is in chaos at the moment and once again the world celebrates another death. Funny that, everyone will fight to the end for their own life, but celebrate the end of another. I'll never get over that I suppose. Don't think I want to.

After all the conflict in Libya in recent times and the end to Gadaffi's reign of terror, I can't help but think that this cycle never, ever ends.

Today's song is "Sarajevo" by Savatage. It's more of a spoken into to the next track, "This is the Time", setting the scene in what is a liberated Sarajevo. There are those that are around long before us and there are those that will follow, I wonder what those who see it all would say?

In the town of Sarajevo, there's an old medieval square
There's a church aside one corner most believe was always there

It was built a thousand years before any now were born
And its glory was its belfry with its stones all gray... and worn

Now there's a gargoyle on that belfry and he's been up there for years
And he has watched and he has pondered: "What is laughter, what are tears?"

And he's never found his answers as he sees the years go by
But he watches and he wonders with his stone unblinking eyes

Unblinking, those with a heart of stone will never know the difference between laughter and tears... I wonder how many people are just as cold?