Intervention
Threshold Lyrics

I was driving through the fens in a peaceful English scene
I was peacefully driving through the British countryside.

Paid for by my grandfather the original gunners dream
My grandfather, who fought in World War II, paid for my peaceful surroundings through his service.

I was taking life for granted though I was born to die
Despite knowing that everyone dies, I was not appreciating life as fully as I should have been.

It's been a long time since a bomb dropped from the expansive Norfolk sky
It had been a while since anything traumatic or dangerous had happened in the area.

I was listening to the radio and the talk was all of war
The radio was discussing current conflicts and the topic of war dominated the airwaves.

Freed themselves from Tito settling old scores
There was a recent conflict where a group had gained independence and were settling old disputes.

I was far from Sarejevo it seemed irrelevant to me
Being far from Sarajevo, the conflict and suffering there didn't seem important or relevant to me.

If it was U.N. troops or diplomats that had to intervene
It was unclear who should intervene to solve the conflict.

We are impotent in our power do we dare to fight again
Despite having the ability to intervene, we may not be effective and the question remains whether we should get involved again.

Must we always kill for freedom what will intervention gain?
Is killing and war the only way to gain freedom, and what would intervening really achieve?

It's a symptom of repression and a people held at bay
The violence and conflict is a result of a group of people being oppressed and held back.

No freedom of expression waiting for this day
The people affected by the conflict have limited or no freedom of expression, but they're hoping for change to come soon.

If we impose our standards on a people newly freed
If we force our own values and standards onto people who have recently gained freedom, we may become oppressors ourselves.

We will be the oppressors and the curse of war will breed on
If we become oppressors, war and conflict will continue to be a problem.

Don't let it breed on
We need to prevent war and conflict from continuing and spreading.

But her cries went right through me
The cries of a suffering child impacted me deeply.

Gripped my heart till I thought that I would die
I was so overcome with emotion that I felt like I might die.

That little child on the operating table
The child was undergoing surgery.

I had to stop to wipe the tears from my eyes
I was moved to tears and had to pause to wipe them away.

They had no drugs to comfort her to dull away the pain
The child was in severe pain and there were no drugs available to help.

As they removed the bloody legacy a cruel shrapnel rain
The doctors were removing shrapnel from the child's body that had caused the injuries.

That had destroyed the lives of the ones she loved
The shrapnel had killed or injured the child's friends or family.

That would shake your faith in the Lord above
The trauma of seeing such suffering could damage one's belief in a higher power.

And the eyes of the world they are turning away
People are ignoring or not paying attention to the suffering of others.

She had no natural resources to protect her in her play
Due to the conflict, the child had no safe or protected areas to play.

And the backstreets of her home town they are burning down in flames
The child's home and community were being destroyed in the conflict.

She is part of a new crystal nacht an ethnic cleansing day
The child is part of an ethnic group that is being targeted and persecuted.

We are ignorant we are partisan
As a society, we don't always understand or acknowledge the suffering of others, and we are often divided in our opinions on how to address it.

We are ignorant we are partisan
As a society, we don't always understand or acknowledge the suffering of others, and we are often divided in our opinions on how to address it.