Song Lyric Sunday. The end of the world as we know it.

Jim Adams

Death, Destruction, Pestilence, and Famine. A very apt prompt for today’s Song Lyric Sunday.

This week Jim Adams our host said “When I think about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, I think of Trump, Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping ” Well I totally agree with they are and to be honest they really are the epitome of Evil.

When I think of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, I am afraid to say say they are all already here. They have always been here, War a new one each week, Famine ever present too, Death our constant companion and pestilence has been here always too but in the last two years it’s been here big time with Covid in all its varients. Yes the four spheres at the table are ever present.

So to continue in this happy vein my first choice was Chris De Burgh and the vision in this song he mentions the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Into the Light is the eighth studio album by British-Irish singer Chris de Burgh, released in 1986 by A&M Records. The album is notable for featuring de Burgh’s biggest hit, “The Lady in Red“.

The album peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, becoming de Burgh’s first studio album to enter the top ten.

“Fatal Hesitation” was a UK number 44 hit, spending four weeks on the chart. “Say Goodbye to It All” was a continuation of the song “Borderline” from 1982’s The Getaway. Both songs frequently appear in de Burgh’s concerts and compilation albums. The song “For Rosanna” is dedicated to de Burgh’s then-2-year-old daughter Rosanna.

The three Chris de Burgh songs used in “Everybody’s in Showbiz”, “The Leader”, “The Vision” and “What About Me?”, are played in the order they appear on de Burgh’s Into the Light album. In fact, the songs each segue into one another, creating what is effectively a single eight-and-a-half minute track with three distinct sections. The songs are sometimes referred to as the “Leader Trilogy”.

The “Leader Trilogy” is arguably the longest song sample used on Miami Vice, as the entire eight-and-a-half minutes of the song are used. However, it is technically comprised of three separate tracks that make up one continuous piece of music; the longest single track featured is “Brothers in Arms” by Dire Straits, from “Out Where the Buses Don’t Run”. Information from Wikipedia

The tack I have chosen is the Vision which track 11 on the above album.

The Vision

And I saw a burning chariot,
And the four horsemen of the apocalypse,
Waiting on high,
And I heard the thunder rolling in,
And behold our leader on a pale horse riding in the sky;

And I saw this land a battlefield,
With a hundred thousand men,
Fighting hand to hand,
And I heard the sounds of victory,
And the rivers ran red with the blood of our enemies;

And I, I saw fire from the sky,
I saw fire, and I saw paradise, (paradise, )
Fire from the sun, I saw fire,
And I saw Alpha and Omega;

Fire, I saw fire,
And I saw paradise, (paradise, )
Fire, I saw fire;

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Chris de Burgh.

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Okay my second choice is a cheery little ditty, is Pigs of War by Black Sabbath.

“War Pigs” is a song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970 album and the opening track from the band’s second studio album Paranoid (1970).

The original title of “War Pigs” was “Walpurgis”, dealing with the witches’ sabbath. “Walpurgis is sort of like Christmas for Satanists. And to me, war was the big Satan”, said bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler. “It wasn’t about politics or government or anything. It was Evil itself. So I was saying ‘generals gathered in the masses / just like witches at black masses’ to make an analogy. But when we brought it to the record company, they thought ‘Walpurgis’ sounded too Satanic. And that’s when we turned it into ‘War Pigs’. But we didn’t change the lyrics, because they were already finished.”

During this time period, mandatory army service had recently ended in Britain but with the Vietnam War raging, many young men feared they’d be conscripted to fight in it. “That’s what started this whole rebellion thing about not going to war for anybody”, said Butler. “I was dreading being called up”, the lyricist recalled.

Prior to its official release, the band often altered the lyrics significantly when performing it live. An example of this can be found on Ozzy Osbourne‘s compilation The Ozzman Cometh, which features an early version recorded by Black Sabbath for BBC Radio 1 on 26 April 1970. While Butler has said that “War Pigs” is “totally against the Vietnam War, about how these rich politicians and rich people start all the wars for their benefit and get all the poor people to die for them”, vocalist Osbourne has stated that the group “knew nothing about Vietnam. It’s just an anti-war song.” The song’s instrumental iutro is entitled “Luke’s Wall” on US releases of the album, formatted as “War Pigs/Luke’s Wall”.

Drummer Bill Ward‘s first memory of performing the song was at The Beat Club in Switzerland in 1968. The band was required to play multiple sets every night and had little material in their repertoire at that point, so they would perform lengthy jam sessions to fill in the sets. Co-writer and lead guitarist Tony Iommi has said that “War Pigs” originated from one of those jam sessions.

The addition of the air-raid siren and the speeding up of the song’s end were done by producer Rodger Bain and engineer Tom Allom. The band had no input in these decisions, though they were pleased with the results. Information Wikipedia

War Pigs

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerer of death’s construction

In the fields, the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord, yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning
Ashes where their bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour

Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing, spreads his wings
Oh lord, yeah!

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Iommi Anthony Frank / Osbourne John / Butler Terence Michael / Ward W T

War Pigs lyrics © Westminster Music Ltd.,

Happy Sunday Everyone enjoy it while you can. 💜🇺🇦