‘Peace in the Valley’ – The Song Lyrics Arose from this Poem

Fourteen years ago I wrote this poem, a story depicting the remarkable contrast between natural life in nature and modern life in the world. A couple of years later I was inspired to write the song, using this poem as the lyrics for the song. I haven’t taken the recording any further as yet.

Beneath the poem is a link to the recording of a sample of the song; one verse and one chorus, played and sung by me. If you feel musically inclined, please take a listen, this will give you an idea of how the song as a whole would turn out.

‘Peace in the Valley’ – By Vaughan Jones

Hush in the valley, hawk hovers, scanning its prey,
mice scurry, darting for cover in the bush.
Crickets squeak & chirp, calling to their kin,
sparrow swoops down through the brush and up again.
Dung beetle rolls his stash to his far-off nest,
myriads of insects skim the surface of the lake,
expanding rings appear as trout surface for their catch.
Crocodile lifts his brow, and lazily falls asleep again.
 
Chaos in New York City, two Boeings fly into the World Trade Center.
World markets reel, the global economy teeters at the brink of collapse.
Whilst back in the Valley of Eden, peace & structure prevail,
elephant rolls in the mud bath along the riverbank and ponders.
 
Chorus
Fake war in Afghanistan to kill just one man,
A weak excuse for war against Iraq, same shit different day,
The value of human life is zero,
slaughtered for an ideology or the price of a barrel of oil.
There are no straight lines or linear parameters in the valley,
but total conformity, all of nature in harmony.
Order and sovereignty is the order of each day.
Real life as intended in the Valley of Eden.
 
Verse 2
Muddy elephant, matriarch of the troop, flaps her ears,
she scrapes the earth and billows her trumpet call.
Young & old, babes & middle-aged gather about her,
preparing for the long annual trek along an age-old path.
Matriarch's forebears have trodden along this same path
for thousands of years, generation after generation.
 
As the troop sets off in platoon formation, young in the center,
an F16 bomber screeches overhead, Matriarch looks up perplexed,
then bows & shakes her wise old head, ears flapping loudly.
Another jet tears through the sky, raping the peace and harmony.
The troop pushes on at a trot, as if to escape this human abortion,
baboon perches against a Baobab tree, scratches & shakes his head
 
Chorus
Election time again in the US of A, banners fly overhead,
people scurry to hear lies, absorbed by the con artists.
Good man spent time in the valley of the shadow of death,
beaten by the warmonger, bush-con, who won the war against terrorism.
There are no straight lines or linear parameters in the valley,
but total conformity, all of nature in harmony.
Orderly structure is the order of each day,
real life in the Valley of Eden.
 
Verse 3
Winter approaching, matriarch leads the troop for three weeks
along treacherous paths, and a pack of lions attacks a straggling babe.
Hundreds of kilometers North of The Valley, near the Equator,
the large troop settle for the winter to forage and mate at will
in relative safety as the young grow stronger and independent.
The Valley to the South continues in conformity as always, while
Silicon Valley invents a new, more advanced motherboard.
 
Mankind joins the IT chase to have the latest hardware & software,
the latest and more advanced games, even more violent than before.
Corporates spend millions of dollars acquiring the latest IT trends
while Matriarch & clan eat the rotting fruit of the Amarula tree and,
frolicking in a drunken stupor, they enjoy their annual splash party.
 
Chorus
The millennium virus, which never happened, rocks the IT fraternity,
most of the DOT.COM opportunists ashamed and wealthy.
The hole in the Ozone layer broadens, we look to the next Ice Age,
natural foliage & wildlife becomes depleted.
There are no straight lines or linear parameters in the valley,
but total conformity, all of nature in harmony.
Orderly structure is the order of each day,
Real life in the Valley of Eden.
 
Verse 4
 
Summer draws near, Matriarch summonses her troop for the return,
the dry ground suckles deep as the early rain lashes the earth.
Natural lakes spring up as the water table is replenished
and wild blossoms spring to life, painting the ground with colour.
Lush green leaves re-appear on the trees & bushes,
Spring is announced by a splendor of colour & song.
Matriarch leads her troop back into The Valley of Eden,
mating over, mature males return to their separate troop.
 
The Valley & all living beings welcome the troop back home,
Awash in the splendor of new life, the cycle begins again.
Matriarch wonders, "can man tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain?"
"Can they tell a green field from a cold steel rail, a smile from a veil?"
"Do they trade hot ashes for trees, hot air for a cool breeze?"1
 
Chorus
Tectonic plates are moving, continental drift in progress,
Seasons changing steadily, planets aligning with the sun & moon,
Pyramids in Egypt, Mexico, Peru aligned with their cosmic equivalents,
Sirius & its sun still orbiting, the cycle continues unabashed.
As the Earth continues its lopsided wobble, the next arch is built,
The Messenger foretells mass destruction of the globe, few will survive.
By fire, flood, earthquakes, and volcanos, the next ice age begins,
Silicon Valley, utterly destroyed, real life begins its natural cycle again.

The recording a sample of the song that I wrote that arose from this poem can be heard here:Peace In the Valley by Vaughan Jones – ONE verse/chorus

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Safrea or its members.

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