Ron Lindeman at the Local Heroes music event at the ALLY Amfitheater Castellum August 29, 2021

Today I played a couple of songs at the Local Heroes music event at the ALLY Amfitheater Castellum together with pianist Mark Kirkenier. It was a COVID-19 proof music event. Besides me there were 5 other artists performing. Photos by Erik Frings ( photoartcirefrin )

 

Peace bird

( inspired by the artwork by Dr. Gonçalo Armando Mabunda / Tropenmuseum Amsterdam / 2003 )

Bird, Bird

Bird of Paradise

Bird so high up in the sky

Sailing the sky

Looking down on me

I walked this land

Always so proudly

When I was a child

And lifted my mind so easy

So high up in the skies

Where peaceful birds fly

When I was a man I watched so many

Innocent people die

I thought my mind would leave my body

Searching everywhere for the why

On the wide and windy plains

On the rocky slopes of mountains high

Where truth means life

And a lie could make you die

I could not find any answers

On the quest for the why

Once I washed my hands with water

From the clearest creek

Once I sat quietly alongside

The green river bank

Till the bodies floated by

And blood colored the water red

All I wanted was peace in my heart

Tranquility in my soul

All I wanted was the beauty of life

All I wanted was a free mind

Freed from the horrors in life

As free as birds can fly

Bird, bird

Bird of War

Bird of Prey

Spread your wings and change your flight

Bird, Bird

Bird of Paradise

Bird of Peace

Peace arose after the hatred

Like a Phoenix from the ashes

Rising above the smoke

Of all these burned down houses

And all the rotted corpses

When the cannon thunder silenced

And the gun barrels were molten

And the rifles sawn to pieces

And the bullets lay forgotten

Then the artist’s hands recreated

Violence and hatred

Into a symbol of peace

This Bird of Peace

Peace in my heart

Peace in my mind

Peace in my soul

Such a dark bad world

Turn it into a haven of light

Let peace take its flight

Through the darkness of the night

And when the world awakens

In the early morning sun

The evil spell is broken

The Bird of Peace

Has won

Bird, Bird

Peace Bird

Fly across this land

Like a Bird of Paradise

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes

This Bird of Peace

This Bird of Peace

Peace Bird

Peace Bird

Peace Bird

Lyrics and music by Ron Lindeman

October 2016