A Song for MLK Day

"Peace Prize"
by Paul Burton

(Feat. Josh Jones - drums
Curtis Ohlson - Bass
Lary Moore - sax
Paul Burtone-guitars
Pablo Sablo - voice)

Dedicated to Jody Williams 1997
Copyright/Copyleft 2004.

Peace Prize *

When you said the world won the peace prize
I knew that we were on our way to ending war
When you said the world won the peace prize
I could see the future that we were hoping for

Now they’re planting seeds of peace where they once harvested bones
And now with your campaign they have a harvest of hope
And the world will see the reason and what your work is worth
When these mines of mass destruction are banished from the earth

No more fields of broken bodies, no more young ones maimed and killed
A better world is possible - a dream to be fulfilled

Chorus
Share the dream – dream for the children
Share the dream – I’ll dream it with you
Shine the light – light of the future
Then you’ll know my dream will come true

Now we carry on the struggle like the ones who came before
With Doctors without Borders we’ll heal the wounds of war
We’ll take a stand for justice for Aung san Suu Kyi
With the power of the people we set Mandela free!

And now I know you love to hear the sisters sweetly sing:
“Keep your eyes on the prize” like Martin Luther King
Now a better world is possible and still worth reaching for
When no more 13-year-old soldiers go marching off to war

When each child is free from hunger, when human needs are met
Clean water, education, I know we’ll get there yet

Share the dream – dream for the children
Share the dream – I’ll dream it with you
Shine the light – light of the future
Then you’ll know my dream will come true

When human rights and dignity are upheld and respected
When seeds of peace are planted and forests are protected
Sustainable development for future generations
Non-violence, disarmament, love, cooperation
Peaceful co-existence, Reconciliation
Conflict resolution and true united nations

When we ban the bombs and melt the guns
And nevermore to fire them
Look into your children's eyes
Send love to inspire them

We can find a way to save the hungry, homeless refugees
On the many paths we travel on to build a lasting peace

When the world, world won the peace prize
When the world, world won the peace prize

Meanwhile up in the White House he’s got his own damage control
No time for signin’ treaties no time for searching souls
But those who try to hold us back will have to step away
Cause a better world is possible, we saw it on the day

When the world, world won the Peace Prize
When the world, world won the Peace Prize

for Jody Williams and the Campaign to Ban Landmines

© 1996 - 2012 Paul Burton, SabloSongs, BMI. All Rights Reserved.



Notes on “Peace Prize”:
• Peace Prize was written for Jody Williams and the Campaign to Ban Landmines, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. I started writing the song in 1997 as a tribute to Williams, who lived in a small rural area of southwestern Vermont not far from where I lived in northwestern Massachusetts at that time. I was impressed that she had been an outspoken activist for years, working with the Salvadoran and Central American solidarity movements in the 1980s. She remained an outspoken radical. Her work and that of the Campaign to Ban Landmines brought together diverse non-governmental organizations, governments, and individuals. It was hoped that it would serve as a model for peacemaking and other campaigns like the effort to ban the use of child soldiers. I seem to recall Williams saying something about the world having won the peace prize but those words aren’t in her acceptance speech. Maybe I heard it in an interview or news report, or dreamt it.

• “When the mines of mass destruction are banished from the earth”: The Landmine Survivors Network reported in June 2006 that, “In the eight years since the Mine Ban Treaty was first signed: The number of victims has dropped from about 26,000 per year to 18,000. As of September 30, 2005, 154 countries had signed the treaty. There is no evidence of the use of anti-personnel landmines by any of the Mine Ban Treaty signatory countries. At least 38 countries have ceased production of antipersonnel landmines, including 33 States Parties, and five Non-States Parties (Egypt, Finland, Iraq, Israel, and Poland). About 400,000 stockpiled mines have been destroyed by states parties. In 2004, over 135 square kilometers of mine-affected land were cleared in 37 countries.

• The idea of honoring other Peace Prize winners by naming them in the song, and making common cause to carry on the struggle with the ‘ones who came before,’ seemed like a natural motif. An early version had a line about Rigoberta Menchu (1992 winner) and Desmond Tutu (1984) but the phrasing was difficult in the syncopated 7/8 groove. Medecins sans Frontieres won the Prize in 1999. ‘Doctors without Borders’ fits the beats better. (Incidentally, Peace Prize uses the same chord progression ( G - Ami - G - D ) as a similar song (in 6/8), “Medecins sans Frontieres,” co-written in 1996 with poet Jonathan Stevens.

• Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung san Suu Kyi won the Prize in 1991. She won her country’s presidential election but was put under house arrest by the military dictatorship, where she remains.

• Nelson Mandela won the Prize in 1993 for his role in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa and his commitment to peace and reconciliation. S.A. President FW deKlerk was co-winner but isn’t someone who’s name I would ever sing.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Peace Prize in 1964.

• “No more 13-year-old soldiers go marching off to war.” The cause of stopping the use of children as soldiers was taken up by many of the non-governmental organizations that worked to enact the landmine ban treaty. The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers works to prevent the recruitment and use of children as soldiers, to secure their demobilisation and to ensure their rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Also see the International Action Network on Small Arms.

• The idea of describing a vision of what the dream should look like, what do we really desire for peaceful tomorrows, was a challenge. The solution was in the words of the peace prize winners themselves, as well as the work for which they won the prize. “when human needs are met: Clean water, education…” comes from a speech made by Jody Williams at a gathering of Peace Prize winners in 2003.

• "When Human Rights and dignity are upheld and respected": Amnesty International won the Peace Prize in 1977, Jimmy Carter won in 2002, Iranian Lawyer Shirin Ebadi in 2003, Desmond Tutu in 1984.

• Sustainable development, forests are protected: Wangari Maathai of Kenya won in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace, including planting trees and preserving greenbelts.

• Non-violence: Martin Luther King, Jr., won the Peace Prize in 1964.

• Disarmament: Joseph Rotblat and to the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs won in 1995 for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and in the longer run to eliminate such arms. Mikhail Gorbachev won in 1990. International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War won in 1998.

• Reconciliation: Kim Dae Jung won in 2000 for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea.

• The 2003 Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, was also honored for her work in Conflict Resolution, as was Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez in 1987.

• Peaceful co-existence: Mikhail Gorbachev won in 1990 for efforts to end the Cold War. Willy Brandt won in 1971.

• “Melt the guns and nevermore to fire them” is of course a line borrowed from the great song “Melt the Guns” by XTC, the second greatest pop-rock band of all time (after the Beatles).

• “Hungry, homeless refugees”: unfortunately still timely whether in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia …

• “On the many paths we travel on to build a lasting peace” paraphrases Jody Williams’ Nov. 2003 speech: “Building peace is hard work – every day. And there are many ways to contribute to the building of peace – just look at the work of the various individuals and organizations here today who have been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize. Their work exemplifies the many roads one can take to contribute to building peace.”

• “Meanwhile up in the White House he’s got his own damage control” could refer to GW Bush but was written when Clinton was President and didn’t sign the landmine treaty. Jody Williams challenged Clinton to invite her to the White House and pointed out that the president had taken time to meet with the winners of the Super Bowl but wouldn’t take the time to meet with her. He of course had a different kind of damage control than the current [2005] White House occupant.

• “No time for signin’ treaties”: Remarkably, the U.S. announced when the Landmine treaty went into effect in 1999 that the U.S. hoped to sign the treaty by 2006. Human Rights Watch Program Director for the Arms Division, Stephen Goose, said at the time, “The goal of 2006 is already unconscionably distant,” and asked, “But how can we believe the Pentagon is serious about that goal, if it's seeking nearly $50 million from Congress this year for a new mine system that will be banned by the treaty?” Fast forward to 2004 when the Arms Control Association reported that: “The Bush administration has no intention of joining an anti-landmine treaty and is reviewing past U.S. support for negotiating an agreement to end the production of key nuclear weapons materials, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker told Arms Control Today in a Jan. 21 interview. … In the summer of 2001, the Bush administration initiated a review of U.S. landmine policy. A key element was a May 1998 pledge by President Bill Clinton to sign by 2006 the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines (APLs) if the United States was able to find effective alternatives to such weapons. Rademaker said future U.S. landmine policy ‘will certainly not include signature of the Ottawa Convention.’”

• “But those who try to hold us back will have to step away” could be a stronger, more militant statement but hopefully gets across the desire to remove from power non-violently the militarists and war mongers who threaten peace and the future of our planet.


• The final version of the song was completed June 15, 2006, which was the deadline for entering songs in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. The lyrics were completed, vocals recorded over tracks that had been recorded over the past year, the track edited to fit the under 5 minutes requirement for the contest, and entered into the contest as a tribute to Williams and John Lennon.The contest served as a motivator to finish the song after many starts and stops over the past nine years. It is fitting that I finished this song during the year the U.S. was supposed to sign the Landmine Ban Treaty. And if by some twist of luck the song is recognized, hopefully it will highlight this cause and help lead us further on up that road to Peace.


Final word from Jody Williams, 2003:
“I challenge all of us, in the delicate balance between terror and hope, to throw the weight of our actions behind hope for a better world. Take action to create the world you in which want to live – for yourselves and for future generations.”