Young Abdel Madi Shabneh was only 18 years old,
He was the youngest of nine children, never spent a night away from home.
And his mother held his photograph up in the New York Times
You see the killing has intensified along the road to peace

He was a tall, thin boy with a whispy moustache disguised as an orthodox Jew
On a crowded bus in Jerusalem, some had survived World War Two
And the thunderous explosion blew out windows 200 yards away
With more retribution and seventeen dead along the road to peace

Now at King George Ave and Jaffa Road passengers boarded bus 14a
In the aisle next to the driver Abdel Madi Shabnet
And the last thing that he said on earth is "God is great and God is good"
And he blew them all to kingdom come upon the road to peace

Now in response to this another kiss of death was visited upon
Yasser Taha, Israel says is an Hamas senior militant
And Israel sent four choppers in, flames engulfed his white Opel
And it killed his wife and his three year old child leaving only a blackened skeleton

They found his toddlers bottle and a pair of small shoes and they waved them in front of the cameras
But Israel says they did not know that his wife and child were in the car
There are roadblocks everywhere and only suffering on TV
Neither side will ever give up their smallest right along the road to peace

Israel launched it's latest campaign against Hamas on Tuesday
And two days later Hamas shot back and killed five Israeli soldiers
So thousands dead and wounded on both sides most of them middle eastern civilians
They fill the children full of hate to fight an old man's war and die upon the road to peace

"Now this is our land we will fight with all our force" say the Palastinians and the Jews
Each side will cut off the hand of anyone who tries to stop the resistance
If the right eye offends thee then you must pluck it out
And Mahmoud Abbas said Sharon had been lost out along the road to peace

Once Kissinger said "we have no friends, America only has interests"
Now our president wants to be seen as a hero and he's hungry for re-election
But Bush is reluctant to risk his future in the fear of his political failure
So he plays chess at his desk and poses for the press 10,000 miles from the
road to peace

In the video that they found at the home of Abdel Madi Shabneh
He held a Kalashnikov rifle and he spoke with a voice like a boy
He was an excellent student, he studied so hard, it was as if he had a future
He told his mother that he had a test that day out along the road to peace

The fundamentalist killing on both sides is standing in the path of peace
But tell me why are we arming the Israeli army with guns and tanks and bullets?

And if God is great and God is good why can't he change the hearts of men?
Well maybe God himself is lost and needs help
Maybe God himself he needs all of our help
Maybe God himself is lost and needs help
He's out upon the road to peace

Well maybe God himself is lost and needs help
Maybe God himself he needs all of our help
And he's lost upon the road to peace
And he's lost upon the road to peace
Out upon the road to peace.



Lyrics submitted by gweeps

Track duration: 07:17


Road to Peace song meanings
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14 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:"And the last thing that he said on earth is 'God is great and God is good'
    And he blew them all to kingdom come upon the road to peace"

    If this line doesn't run a chill down your spine, I'd argue that you have no pulse.
    Flag MarkieMarklon May 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I like this song because it's so complete, wars aren't easy there isn't a good guy and a bad guy, no one is right (in fact you could state that everybody is in a way wrong, because wars always have civil casualties, and there really is no excuse for war (wich is basicly murder)). tom waits shows this perfecty, everyone loses in war.

    This situation is so complex and lasted so long it really is difficult to get a clear view on this, and i think Waits kind of did. he point's out the three major party's and their interest and how evereybody tries to solve things but with either wrong intentions or wrong solutions.

    I also like the "god ending" because both sides of the comflict claim to have god on their side, or to serve their god. but really, if there is a god I doubt he would support the killing of many. Personally, i believe religion should be a private matter and dissing other people because they believe in a different god is hypocrite. as long as you say you have the right to believe in a religion you choose, you can't say that other people don't have that right.
    Flag TweedleDeeTweedleDumon January 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:
    I love this song, i think it means people do things they believe with give them peace, like with Wars both sides believe the other is in the way to acheiving peace or by defeting the other they can acheive peace, people stay away from peace because they dont know if its the right thing to do or they get an idea that war and/or death will give peace for their people in the end.
    Flag Etisseon May 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this is probably the greatest anti war song ever written.
    Nothing else to say really, other than to reiterate: "They fill the children full of hate to fight an old man's war and die upon the road to peace"
    Flag wolfticketon October 23, 2009   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:I lost my respect to mr waits with this song. blaspheming againts God at the end. I can however answer mr waits queston when he asks why can't God change the hearts of men. the answer is simple God gave us freewill we got our selfs here you don't blame someone else for your own mistakes do you. But God actaully can change your heart if you let him. If you repent and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ God will give you a new heart but thats only to the ones who will actually repent forsakeing your sins and actaully putting all your trust in him reading your bible and obeying it. Then God can forgive your sins and give you a heart of flesh instead of stone. But in no way does God need our help if the whole univeres every singles creature soul and angel were to turn against him it would be as if the weakess out of all of them were standing alone thats the God of glory and the God of mercy who offers eternal life.
    Flagged TheMisfitDreameron March 24, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:If any song ever made could make a difference in the world, it's this song. So amazing and well written.
    Flag BobbyjointRitualon March 29, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The thing that makes this song so unique is this: as simple and easily understandable these lyrics are, who really knows which road is the road to peace?
    Flag Ex Abruptoon September 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:completely haunting.
    it used to wake me up in the middle of the night. god, i adore this song...
    Flag strawberrycactuson September 14, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:people have lost sight of the value of life, the road to peace... will they ever find it?
    Flag fuzzyjellybeanon June 15, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"They fill the children full of hate to fight an old man's war"
    Too true =/
    Flag DullDayon May 30, 2007   Link

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