See the soldiers on the warpath
See the people fall like stones
See the leaders stand in silence
See the bodies and broken bones

Hear the daily call to prayer
Hear the crowds’ angry cries
Hear the bullets roar like thunder
Hear the propaganda and bloody lies

There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way

We read about it in the papers
We see it on our screens
We watch it from a distance
We turn away from the screams

They’re bleeding in the streets
They’re dying all alone
They’re calling out to God
They’re all on their own

There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way

Now the streets are quiet
Now they mourn the dead
Now the world holds its breath
Now the flames are fed

Soon the bodies are falling
Soon there is only pain
Soon another child is orphaned
Soon it starts all over again

There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way

How long does it go on?
How long do the tears flow?
How long do we sit in silence?
How long do we watch the show?

America sits in judgment
Israel reaps what it sows
There’s no oil to plunder
Just death in old Cairo

There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way
There’s got to be another way

I wrote this song over the last couple of weeks, after watching scenes of the violent crackdown in Egypt. I was becoming increasingly annoyed with the media coverage, which seemed very distant and impersonal, and the attitudes of the leaders around the world, who seemed intent on condemning the violence only in the lightest of terms.

The photo is a shot I took last week from my grandparents’ balcony of the sun rising over the ocean. The photo reminded me of a bloody sunrise and I thought it suited the song quite well.

Photo: Red Sunrise © CJ Levinson 2013
Text licenced under Creative Commons