Israelite
-Bob Franke
chorus:
Israelite, O Israelite
Israelite, O Israelite
Israelite, O Israelite
Nobody suffers here another night
Say to paralyzed, take up your bed and walk.
Say to the silent, now raise your voice and talk.
Say to the blind, look up and find your sight.
Do not linger here, O Israelite.
Chorus
Heed not your sorrow, look forward to your hope.
Don't mourn for paradise, just take each day and cope.
Build up the future each day with your own hand,
Keep on walkin' to the Promised Land.
Chorus
Don't live in fear of the armies of the night,
Be of good courage. Look forward to the light.
Take up your rod and staff, and struggle for the right.
You will find your path, O Israelite.
Chorus
Purim ended tonight at sundown, and there was a piece in the NYT. I'd been thinking of using a Bob Franke song and had been thinking "Love Bravely, Elizabeth" [lyrics] or "For Real" [lyrics] (much though I love it, "After the Fall" didn't feel quite right -- oh, looking at my mp3s now, I could have used "A Velveteen Love Song") but in pulling up the lyrics to help decide I saw "Israelite," which I often get stuck in my head, and it got me thinking about something I've written about before -- how so many Christian hymns use the language of "Israel" -- and about the covenant being expanded to include the Gentiles (something which always makes me think of my sacrifice paper [with Buffy version; without]) and ideas about being God's Chosen People.
