Cake not War

We used to be so good together,
Standing tall through stormy weather,
You and me against the world, my friend,
But we don't seem to talk no more,
I hear again the sounds of war,
And fear your love for me will surely end.

But...

I need to hear you say the words,
I need to look you in the eyes,
My friend I tell you true,
It's really all I ask of you,
Let's put an end to lies.

And that's why...

I'm driving up to see you,
Winding up the old M-4,
When I get to the Ring Road,
You'll know what I'm coming for,
And then I think you'll realise,
It's me you need to thank,
So I'm heading up to Moscow,
Driving in my little tank.

And it's a...

T - ninety,
T - ninety,
T - ninety - M,
Fifty tonnes of Russian metal,
Crewed by three good men,
End-to-end ten meters long,
Four metres side-to-side,
I'm going to park it on your lawn,
Then watch you run and hide.
(You bastard)

But on sober reflection I won't...
But on sober reflection I won't...

Make cake not war.
Make cake not war.

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[notes]
A reflection on the bizarre occurrences last weekend - the uneven and disjointed
nature of this {albeit with moments of clarity through tighter formats/moods}
is entirely deliberate. I think that like most people the range of my
thoughts/emotions over the period ran through 'what the hell?' to 'maybe this
will precipitate and end to the war' to 'a civil war in a nuclear power is the last
thing anyone needs'.

Any genuine Tankies out there will probably point out that the current model of
the T-90 series is the T-90MS but there are plenty of M's out there and it's
better in the chant-like section. Yes, I also rounded up the specs/dimensions.

As a side note, you probably learn more than a little about a country from the
names it gives it's tanks;

USA (Generals) - "Sherman", "Patton", "Lee"/"Grant"*, "Abrams"
UK (Fighters/Leaders) - "Centurion", "Chieftan", "Challenger"
Germany (Big Cats) - "Tiger", "Panther", "Leopard"
Russia (T-is-for-TANK) - "T34","T64", "T72", "T90"

*The "Lee/Grant" being two variations on the more prosaically named M3 - And the
"Lee" being Robert E. Lee who left the US military to join the Confederacy and
is actually best known for defeating the United States army a number of times.

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I like lyrics that make us see the stupidity of war and terrorism, so I like what you did here.
The reference to making cake reminded me of a lyric in a song of mine about contemplating crazy acts of revenge "But on reflection I'll just bake another chocolate cake" However, I did write a poem about personal responsibility on a theme of cowardly or impersonal violence... below

Could you, would you?
-------------------------------

Could you press a button to eliminate a nation?

Would you flick the switch that ends a civilization?

Could you plant a dirty bomb and watch the people run?

or shower random bullets from an automatic gun?

In a crowded nightclub could you drop a lighted match

then hearing screams of panic would you fasten tight the latch?

Could you fly a jet into a building tall and full?

Would you round up victims for a massive ethnic cull?

Could you fill a chamber with a toxic deadly gas

and watch the children suffocate behind your safety glass?



All these things are easy if you educate your mind

to stay detached, remote and cold, pretend that you are blind

Imagine you're a giant crushing tiny ants

Put yourself above them all, weed unwanted plants

As long as no identity will put you off your stroke

Mass murder is a video game, just a crazy joke

But when you see the whites of eyes is it so easy now?

If you wanted beef for dinner could you kill the cow?

And when you see a baby born and give the child your name

you'll know that life is personal and every life the same

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Very poignant words, very poignant indeed. Thanks for sharing.

I think you are spot on with the detachment line.

When I was young I saw an episode of (of all things) Dr Who where our hero (as portrayed by Tom Baker) found himself at the Genesis of the Daleks with the opportunity to destroy the original experiment and ensure his greatest enemies never existed...

All he has to do is touch two wires together and they are gone for good but he struggles with it "Have I the right to commit Genocide?"... Of course I (and every other 10yo viewer) was shouting "For God's sake just DO IT!!" at the screen.

As I got older, the terrible moral dilemma (still fixed in my mind) began to make sense. Which leads me to believe that an awful lot of the world's problems are caused by people with the emotional maturity of a 10 year old.

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Not a fan of senseless wars and loss of human life, but I do love cake and singing.

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