Big Country - In A Broken Promise Land Lyrics






The past is a foreign country
Two sides tore apart

In the great scheme of tomorrow
What no one really knows
The blood line has diverted
Like a river that overflows

Oh, where there’s temptation
Oh, there is revelation
Oh-oh, across a thousand nations
Is this the rise or is this the fall?

In a broken promise land
Roses and ashes lie
Where your shadow falls

In a broken promise land
It takes an honest man to heed the call

A storm blows up in the desert
A hurricane hits the shore
There’s a thousand stars in the night sky
I wonder, which one could be yours?

Oh, I’m not going backwards
Oh, I’m only facing forwards
Oh-oh, be it left or right
Be it right or wrong
The time has come

In a broken promise land
Roses and ashes lie
Where your shadow falls

I n a broken promise land
All that you had to give
You gave for us all

The past is a foreign country
Two sides tore apart
Tore apart

In a broken promise land

In a broken promise land
Where your shadow lies
Roses and ashes will fall

In a broken promise land
Roses and ashes lie
Where your shadow falls





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Big Country In A Broken Promise Land Comments
  1. m.... m....

    Im sorry but you cant replace Stuart Adamson he was big country this just sounds like the alarm

  2. m.... t....

    Stuart would’ve loved this one

  3. J.... B....

    This sounds close to early Big Country....

  4. d.... ....

    I hate that fat guy.

  5. R.... ....

    Mike seems like a helluva nice guy but I always found his vocals too 'earnest'. Like Bono on steroids.

  6. A.... Y....

    This song has incredible energy. All players, from the original Big Country members and Jamie Watson to Mike Peters from the Alarm and Derek Forbes from Simple Minds are great. An excellent constellation of talent.

  7. m.... ....

    Fonejacker is of course right that a song always sounds a bit like The Alarm when Mike Peters is singing. But the song itself is great. In my eyes the one that comes closest to a classic Big Country song on the album "The Journey".

  8. i.... S....

    The riff is like Return of the two headed king :O

  9. Z.... J....

    no expense spent on the video...

  10. n.... h....

    This was a good if short lived period for Big Country.
    I have to say though the the current line up is fantastic with Simon on vocals.

  11. K.... M....

    Mark B is the same incredible presence and why this still feels like Big Country perfectly

  12. S.... M....

    Stuart suggested that Mike Peters replaced him when he decided to leave Big country.... He had to fill some very big shoes, but he did it in spades, all be it years later in the light of very tragic circumstances. I saw them play with mike several years ago and what an amazing gig. I still love this band as much as i did 30 years ago. The line up has changed but the spirit remains.....

  13. m.... ....

    This is a great uplifting song, it certainly cheers me up when I listen to it, great vocals and a great tune....great guitars too!

  14. A.... D....

    After listening to this tune again, I know what it reminds me of: Red Fox from The Seer album, esp the guitar intro.

  15. D.... B....

    it is a rockin track, very surprised how good this album is.def worth getting.

  16. P.... A....

    Not the same with this dick head on vocals

  17. F.... ....

    His voice reminds me too much of the Alarm, but excellent Big Country guitar riffs.

    F.... ....

    That could be down to the fact that he is the singer from The Alarm. That could do it.

  18. a.... n....

    Big up to Mike Peters. Best modern Big Country song.

  19. A.... B....

    I saw this iteration of Big Country in Leesburg, VA, on relatively short notice, and was impressed by the band's performance.

    What I was not impressed by was how disorganized their tour seemed.  There were so many laments about bus problems (on Big Country's FB page), playing venues with very sparse turnout, and the financial problems wrought by not being able to play in front of bigger audiences, that I felt a great deal of pity for them.

    U-2 had plenty of much more mediocre songs on its albums (than Big Country) that it tried to pass off as something other than banal filler, and they were able to get away with it, because they were out on the road, year-in and year-out, building up a bigger and bigger audience, just by showing up and emphasizing their really good songs.

    What had Big Country done to build up a strong North American following in the 1980s?  Not much, I'm afraid.  They could have played at Madison Square Garden, but instead, their manager chose "The Pier".  I was at that show with a fabulously beautiful date, named Sarah.  I couldn't help but wonder how their management chose that outdoor location, rather than Madison Square Garden.  Even without a proper arena or stadium to play in, countless thousands of people showed up anyhow.  What did Big Country do in response?  Almost no appearances at local radio stations.  No appearance at MTV studios.  The band's management seemed to go out of its way to keep Big Country invisible.  And because of that dude collecting checks from Big Country, but not really doing his job right, plus hiring some outfit who seemed to follow in his footsteps for this tour, they ended up remaining invisible in North America.

    One other thing... was it really worth it to rage against that senile B-Movie actor in "Flame Of The West"?  U-2's manager did the smart thing by having that band's music suck up, at least a little, to the Americans, and it paid off.  They were welcome with open arms.  "Flame Of The West", albeit a strong song, was bridge-burning that Big Country still hasn't recovered from.  "Home Of The Brave", which seems like Mike Peter's sensible attempts to heal that aforementioned rift, was a good start.  

    Maybe the band should try to turn the lemons that were the 2013 tour (a tour that sabotaged what should have been an incredibly well-received album), into lemonade.  How?  By writing at least 3 or 4 songs about the problems that they faced on that tour (1 about that dreadful bus, 1 about showing up at venues not properly promoted, 1 about feeling invisible to the music press, and 1 about returning home, after all of that hard work, only to realize that they were worse off financially than prior to leaving).  If done right, those songs can be inspirational.  After all, Big Country was able to shrug off all of that adversity, and seems to be doing pretty well at its European gigs.

    A.... B....

    they played the US? I 'd have been very glad to attend a show

  20. M.... H....

    It has always been hard to fathom the existence of Big Country without Stuart but I cant help but listen to this song over and over again. Great guitars from both Jamie and Bruce like father like son. Mike Peters belted out the vocals with excellent projection. The passion shines through. Bass is good and steady. Mark keeps a beat that is as powerful now as it was 30 years ago complete with perfectly timed fills. I am sure Stuart is proud and I hope his spirit is resting nicely.

  21. A.... D....

    Awesome guitar work from Watson and son, and Mike Peters is a fine vocalist. Adamson would be proud.

  22. 5.... S....

    Not bad at all! I Still love the one and only Stuart Adamson led BC more, but I know he would want the band to carry on. I wish them all the very best and will pray I get to see my favorite band in Heaven someday soon! God bless them!

  23. M.... ....

    Me too @Candy0A0  What I like about that program is that its easy to follow with complete step-by-step instruction guiding through the proper handling of getting you ex back. I myself proved it and it did what it promised! I should've found this long ago.. It was the bomb!

    M.... ....

    Anyway candy, you got the site name misspelled. That should be:

    www.00getyourexback00.blogspot.com

  24. a.... ....

    Sandra! You are Big Country much more as we are! Bruce and Jamie could do this coz of you. As I said before: Mike was a great frontman for Big Country! April will tell me more about our new singer. Hope he will stand in the middle and not on the far east of stage. Lyrics are not to be sung on that place... anyway it's not up to me to decide that! (H)

  25. T.... ....

    It's alright, but he's no Stuart Adamson, his voice and style of guitar playing made the band.

  26. K.... V....

    I loved their new album, it definetly deserved a larger audience.

  27. S.... ....

    I think Stuart would approve

    S.... ....

    Would approve? He'd be proud!

  28. m.... ....

    Great song, poor clip.

  29. D.... F....

    Love Big Country but wished I hadn't clicked on that.

  30. C.... ....

    This reminds me of "Wonderland"... except the complete opposite. Thank you, Sandra!!

  31. j.... ....

    I agree with all the comments so far!!Great ..Brilliant!!

  32. t.... ....

    You know this song just gets better and better with more plays?

  33. G.... S....

    Must be something about Bruce's and Les Pauls! Our Bruce plays a '95 Studio with a 490R and 498T. Sounds great on our new tracks. You guys are so much fun! Rock on!

  34. Z.... ....

    Like any longtime BC fan, I didn't know what to expect with the new line up. Saw them live in Somerville, MA last month and it was fantastic. The new album is certainly one of the best released this year...and.....Brzezicki !!!!!!

  35. D.... B....

    diff line up i know etc but this song would grace any and i mean any bc era...is fantastic

  36. o.... L....

    Great to see them back!!!

  37. d.... ....

    big country my favorite band even now still with new lineup. out of all the bands ive ever wanted to see ive most wanted to see big country and i did tonight in charlotte! the show was no less than fantastic and even better than i could have hoped for. i met most of them and they were all great! the new basist derek was the one i spoke to the most. great guy he was and great basist as well! i can only hope they come back again sooner than later!

  38. a.... ....

    It does Jason! No-one can replace Stuart or Tony but we still are Big Country. Remember 2007? The Garage, Glasgow... Tony doing us all proud. We weren't history anymore but someone taught us to be proud about who we are! The Teacher? Hmm, nah just the spirit of someone who is close to us all. Stay Alive!

  39. D.... M....

    Love Bruce's guitar, LP w/ P-90's!

  40. a.... ....

    He would! Even if 1988 record Peace in our Time was a tangent to a plot...

  41. a.... ....

    Remember the footages of 1988! 2013 is Cool!

  42. D.... B....

    Wow, Gr8 Song, Location & Video

  43. t.... ....

    So good to have Big Country back!

  44. F.... V....

    Great song!! I love it!! Greetings from Argentina!

  45. M.... P....

    maybe mark wasn't feeling well.

  46. M.... B....

    Great stuff BC, new line up sounds great

  47. c.... ....

    The whole album is. I was very sceptical before I heard it myself, but damn....

  48. b.... ....

    This song is already classic BC.

  49. J.... N....

    Saw them in Napa last week and they tore the roof off the place. Still one of the best live rock bands around. Don't miss them.

  50. R.... B....

    Super - beste BC Tradition - weiter viel Spaß aus Deutschland für die Tour. :o).

  51. R.... M....

    Tooon! :-) (I'll ignore the video)

  52. M.... C....

    Awesome!

  53. J.... C....

    HOT HOT TUNE

  54. L.... F....

    Fantastic song and a video to equal it! Love it.