Music: Psalters

This is a particular favorite of mine called "Ol' Glory," from the album The Divine Liturgy of the Wretched Exiles. Psalters are a nomadic Christian underground band, related to Shane Claiborne's movement, anarchists and pacifists. I keep thinking of this song, especially in the context of the proposed strikes against Syria.

Lyrics:

the killing fields are striped with red
white lies in between
while on a placid blue they float
like islands safe from all they sowed beneath

high above that poor man's toil
they lay in sacred isolation
safely placed in rows they are
stars of self-preservation

and on good friday,
(and all that glory,)
all that ol' glory ...

in that corner sea serene
fifty stars line up against you
flying high but they will sink
with the weight of a heavy millstone

no man is an island
no man can run from all they've done
in that deep blue they'll sink
fifty stars never to see the sun

and on good friday
those red stripes were carved into your back
and on good friday
those stars spangle your back blue and black
and on good friday

those stars and stripes were torn in two
and all that glory, all that ol' glory
belongs alone
to You