Havens, Richie - Lives In The Balance Lyrics
Ive been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war
And theres a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs
On the radio talk shows and the t.v.
You hear one thing again and again
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends-
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
There's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the names
They sell us the president the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
Other Lyrics by Artist
- Havens, Richie - Zodiac
- Havens, Richie - Slow Down
- Havens, Richie - Say It Isn't So
- Havens, Richie - Putting Out The Vibration (And Hoping It Comes Home)
- Havens, Richie - Prayer
- Havens, Richie - Ol '55
- Havens, Richie - Nobody Left To Crown
- Havens, Richie - Morning, Morning
- Havens, Richie - Minstrel From Gaul
- Havens, Richie - Stardust & Passion
- Havens, Richie - Sugarplums
- Havens, Richie - Younger Men Grow Older
- Havens, Richie - You'll Never Know
- Havens, Richie - Woodstock
- Havens, Richie - What More Can I Say, John?
- Havens, Richie - There's A Hole In The Future
- Havens, Richie - The Well
- Havens, Richie - The Parable Of Ramón
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Havens, Richie Lives In The Balance Comments
Jackson Browne wrote "Lives in the Balance." When Browne performs it, the song is as moving as it is melodious. But Richie Havens...oh, my. Richie sings and plays this with such exquisite beauty and tragedy that it brings me to tears every time and makes me want to scream that this madness must stop. But it never stops. Men who crave money and power buy it with the blood of soldiers and civilians. Soldiers and civilians spill the blood of their neighbors to fill the coffers of their overlords. Folks used to sing "where have all the flowers gone?" and "when will we ever learn?" With modern weapons, there may not even be flowers to mark the graves. If Jackson's powerful words and Richie's magnificent voice can't open enough hearts and minds to bring change, can we ever learn?
Margaret Peeler feel ya
Just discovered this song and needed the perspective, thanks!
Richie Havens is, hands down, the best interpreter of other songwriters' songs. His covers are superior, it's uncanny how he re-imagines them. ... To your point, it's a shame that artistic expression alone cannot topple the overlords who are controlling our every move. If it were so, we could be re-imagining everything.
There won’t even be any graves after the next World War.
I miss you Richie Havens. I have heard him perform this song many times, and it is one of the most powerful experiences, ever!
Richie was a standout at Woodstock with "Freedom" this version of JB's song highlights his soulful deliveries. Vale Richie
Heartwrenching