To the Soldiers

A few weeks ago I heard a beautiful Edwin McCain song called “Prayer For St. Peter” on Pandora. I really admire his work, probably because he writes, plays and sings so emotionally. Most of my regular readers know that I volunteer at my local USO a couple of weekends each month. Though it is a 90-minute drive from where I live, it is always a welcome opportunity to give back. There I see U.S. soldiers (and Marines lol) heading to and returning from their deployments. I meet family members and hang out with some of the nicest volunteers you would ever want to meet. So it is pretty understandable that Edwin McCain’s poignant song would stir my feelings.

I bookmarked it, (legally) downloaded it, read up on it and even found guitar chords for it, posted by a nice guy with an AOL email address. That was very cool of him, btw. This song has become the strongest candidate for the next one I’ll learn to play on my harp. Over and over I play Edwin’s recording, and over and over the tears well up and are released. When I looked up the video, I found tons of versions with the American flag and images of our soldiers. According to Edwin, the lyric is a prayer that was written on the side of a hospital in the Philippines during World War II. Indeed we owe much to our veterans and current service members. When I hear this song lately though, my mind veers to remote parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and in my mind’s eye I see the bodies of all soldiers who die in combat. And today as I read the story of the Queen of England’s historic visit to some of Ireland’s most staunchly Republican places, again I thought of fallen soldiers, this time British and Irish.

I don’t have any “answers” or statement to make, just an avalanche of feelings and deep gratitude to Edwin for putting the words of that prayer to such moving music.

Let Them In (A Prayer For St. Peter)

Let them in Peter, For they are very tired
Give them couches where the angels sleep, And light those fires
Let them wake whole again, To brand new dawns
Fired by the sun, Not wartime’s bloody guns

May their peace be deep, Remember where the broken bodies lie
God knows how young they were, To have to die
God knows how young they were, To have to die

Give them things they like, Let them make some noise
Give dance hall bands not golden harps, To these our boys
Let them love Peter, For they've had no time
They should have bird songs and trees, And hills to climb
The taste of summer, And a ripened pear
Girls sweet as meadow wind, And flowing hair
Tell them how they are missed, But say not to fear
It's gonna be all right, With us down here

Let them in Peter, For they are very tired
Give them couches where the angels sleep, And light those fires
Let them wake whole again, To brand new dawns
Fired by the sun, Not wartime’s bloody guns
May their peace be deep, Remember where the broken bodies lie
God knows how young they were, To have to die

Tell them how they are missed, But say not to fear
It's gonna be all right, With us down here


Ps: Since the original post I found out that a songwriter named John Gorka is actually the person who wrote the music to this poem/prayer. Edwin McCain recorded it.



Pps: And since then, I got the chance to record a video of the song. Thank you to John Gorka for granting permission for me to publish this song as part of a fund-raising video!! You're awesome!