"Land in the Middle" - a song I wrote in 1978 (intro, lyrics, and chords)

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I hope to be able to post this song later as a sound-file. Meanwhile, here are the spoken introduction, the lyrics (very slightly updated to reflect passage of time), and the chord progression. I welcome any feedback.


LAND IN THE MIDDLE
(copyright 1978, Hayyim Feldman)

[Intro spoken over fingerpicked Am chord:]
This is a song I wrote for the 30th anniversary of both the founding of the State of Israel and the Palestinian Naqba (catastrophe), two sides of a single event in 1948. The last line of the song mentions "the Jubilee." This refers to a Torah law from Va-Yikra (Leviticus), chapter 25, that designates every fiftieth year a "Yovel," or in English, Jubilee year. For the land, it was a year of rest from cultivation and harvest; landholdings amassed by the wealthy were redistributed to their former owners; bondservants were released; and all debts were forgiven. A few selected verses:

25:1
And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and shall call out freedom throughout the land
for all who dwell in her
; it shall be a Yovel (a Jubilee) for you, and you shall return,
each man to his holding, and each man to his family shall return
.

25:17
And you shall not wrong one another, but you shall revere your G!d,
for I, [the Holy Name], am your G!d.

25:19
And the land will give her fruit and you shall eat to satisfaction,
and you shall dwell safely upon her.

25:20
And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity because the land is Mine,
for you are sojourners and residents with Me.


So here it is, "Land in the Middle," a song for two voices:

-------- Beginning of song --------

[Both voices (1st chord progression):]
Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . G(6) . . . . . . . . . . . .
I love a land in the middle of the earth
. . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Em
a land so proud and warm
Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . . . . . . E7
I love a land in the middle of the earth
. . F7 . . . . E . . . . . . . Am
a land so strong and torn.

- -

[First voice:]
My family fled a war o'er that piece of earth
a thousand years gone by
Like a wind-driven leaf we were swept across the earth
but the memories didn't die.

They spoke about the land in the middle of the earth
wherever we did roam
They said we would return to our people's land of birth
they said we'd have a home.

(2nd chord progression)
Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . . . .
Then I heard a call from the end of time,
. G7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E7
"Sisters, brothers, build us up a life!"
. . . . . Am (modal) . . . . . . G . . . . . . . . . . E7
And I ran to the land to inherit what was mine
. F7 . . . . E . . . . . . Am
I found it torn with strife.

- -

[Second voice (1st chord progression):]
I love a land not far from here
that's where I was born
I haven't been there in 30 years [update: "60 years", or "many years"]
but I know where I belong.

My father worked the land like his father had before
a good land now grown old
'Til the strangers came, said that we'd have to leave
our own home had been sold.

(2nd chord progression)
I was only four when we fled the war
but the mem'ries cling like dust
And I will return and we will return
and I will do what I must.

- -

[Both voices (1st chord progression):]
I am the land in the middle of the earth
that they're fighting to redeem
One learned to call me Isra'el
the other, Falastin.

I am the land in the middle -
they tell me that I'm blessed
When the Jubilee comes in 20 years
I'll have a time to rest.

When the Jubilee comes in 20 years
I'll have a time to rest.

[update:
If the Jubilee comes each 50 years
When's my time to rest?
(Repeat line.)]

-------- End of song --------

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