From the recording TIMESCAPE
08 SHIELD (3:07)
A simple tune asking why the world works in such a divided way. Why do we live in such Western comfort and bemoan everything we have, whilst in so many other parts of the world people suffer on a daily basis but put on such a brave face? When Jeremy wrote the lyrics to Shield, he had in his head a third world family hearing about the riches of the West and wondering why they themselves haven't been blessed in the same way. Naturally, the song is influenced by the duo's personal experience of Burma, a tragic, forgotten country filled with a beautiful, resilient people ruled by fear.
Lyrics
We’re not expecting Planet Earth
To stop spinning on its axis
But perhaps this wouldn’t go amiss
If it highlights our cause
We don’t expect the seas to dry
Though if the sparring waves
Called off play for a day
We’d see they cared after all
Do these things ask too much?
Why Mother Earth
Can’t you shield those I love?
Somehow you have to put things right
We’re not expecting prominence
Or media recognition
To sweep through our lives
Place us squarely on the map
But we’re too scared to open up
Let our thoughts speak their name
We’ll maintain a silent flame
Till the strong grant us power
Do these things ask too much?
Why Mother Earth
Can’t you shield those I love?
Somehow you have to put things right