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Words/Music by Steve Dropkin based on Isaiah 2:4 Reflecting the composer’s frustration with the ongoing struggle for peace in the Middle East, the contemporary loud-soft dynamics of this setting evoke the hopeful yet realistic tone of Isaiah’s words. Steve Dropkin purposefully uses the seemingly meaningless word na, which is actually an idiomatic Hebrew expression for “please.” To represent his personal anger, he puts the stress into the heavier sections of the song, on the repeated Hebrew phrase Lo yisa goi el goi cherev, lo yilm’du od milchamah (Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall study war no more), while the more mantra-like verse is in the translated English. Though the chord underneath his ending phrase, war no more, is dark, his message remains optimistic. - Joel Eglash
© 2004 Steve Dropkin (BMI)
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