‘Peace Train (Chant Has Just Begun), The’ [3:37] (Macdonald/Peters/Sharp), Mike Peters

‘Peace Train (Chant Has Just Begun), The’ [3:37] (Macdonald/Peters/Sharp), Mike Peters
Lead Vocals:Mike Peters
Lyrics
:

The peace train says that in the first carriage rides FREEDOM a CONFUSED man who states that the whole of his life from SCHOOL-house to CHURCH-house, PUBLIC-meeting to POLITICAL rally, DEMONSTRATION to CONVERSATION TRAVELS to be MISUNDERSTOOD PEOPLE not knowing WORDS anymore.

In the SECOND CARRIAGE ETYMOLOGICAL man speaks out of turn, sitting behind CONFUSION having picked a GOLD watch out of his pocket screaming HEAVENS TIME is out of time as he secretes the clock back out of sight.

And a HOWLING WIND blasts GLORY riding to his home and sees MEANING pulling down his suitcase to display his WORDS but closes his eyes to ride on to DESTINTY

Will LOVE speak yet gaze from the windows. No need to SPEAK, WORDS may only DECEIVE

The PEACE TRAIN shifts on with relentless unease as the GUARD who deals not in money or cards but some FOREIGN CURRENCY shouting where are you COMING to where are you GOING from. But the WORD was down on the TRACKS down on the TRACKS


The lines that were laid have been shattered
The past has been bent out of shape
The silver highway
Truths on byway
Triangle, set-square and law
Are all the things that matter to the three handed man

The chant has just begun
The song must now be sung
For the word must now be spoken
The chant has just begun

The oceans are stagnant and tideless
The rivers are running their stream
The copper skyway a constant reminder of all the things we have lost
Of all the things that won't come back
The joker has left the pack

The chant has just begun
The song must now be sung
For the word must now be spoken
The chant has just begun

Notes
:Produced by Michael Peters
Engineered & Mixed by Mark Phythian
Mike Peters – Acoustic/Electric Guitars, Bass, Harmonica & Vocals
Owen Thomas – Drums
Mike Peters Notes
:I had written “The Chant” after stealing the title from a mural painted on the wall of A&M Studios, La Brea Av, Hollywood, CA. We (The Alarm) had been there to film our first appearance on “The Cutting Edge” TV Show which also became the video to the stand.
In 1995 I married “The Peace Train” (which formed the sleeve notes to the Declaration album) with the redisovered first-draft lyrics of “The Chant” and based this new recording on the version which “The Alarm” performed on a railway bridge outside Union Station in Los Angeles for “The Cutting Edge”
(Second Generation sleeve notes, September 1995)
Dave Sharp Notes
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Eddie MacDonald Notes
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Nigel Twist Notes
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