Learning to kill is a matter of habit,
the more you have done it the better you're at it.
It starts in the alleys of Sechem at night.
The borderlines blur in the evening light.
A rifle butt bangs on an old, rusty door,
‘Where is your father? Get down on the floor!'
Soon it gets serious. A curfew's declared.
The city falls silent, there's death in the air.
Cocking his weapon with shaking fingers,
grits his teeth as he's hugging the trigger.
Young blood rushes, his heart pounds.
He knows it gets easier the next time around.
They're just objects and shadows, not women and men.
Learning to kill is a natural thing.
Learning to fear is a matter of habit,
the more you have done it the better you're at it.
News from above reaches the street.
There's no hope of living, the end is so near.
Tidings of terror, a raven's crow:
Shutter your windows, lock up your homes!
We're just a handful, a tiny country
surrounded by evil. They won't let us be.
They have hate in their hearts and in all that they bring.
Learning to fear is a natural thing
Cruelty is a matter of habit,
the more you have seen it the better you're at it.
Every boy has a tyrant's desire.
Hands behind the head, legs spread wide!
These are times of danger, times of despair.
No room for compassion, a soldier can't care!
Our neighbours are vermin; they're used to the blood;
how can they feel pain when they live in the mud!
Through cruel routine a soldier is born.
Ignorance soon turns to evil in war.
Israel's land is for Israel's kin.
Cruelty comes as a natural thing.
Learning to love is a natural thing,
it will find a way if you just let it in.
It'll be strange at first, but then you will see it,
that learning to love is a matter of being
Being human is a matter of habit,
a few baby steps, then you get better at it.
To be for one minute, just now, just recall
the opposite side of the towering walls.
But our hearts have hardened along with our skin.
We live in a bubble and let no one else in.
We'll be staring in wonder as the angel falls,
then being human will be a matter of course.
