No Surrender, RSA

“At the dark end, of the street… “That’s where we always meet… “Hiding in the shadows, where we don’t belong…”

“At the dark end, of the street…” The singer is Andrew. His surname is Strong. And that sure feels where we are right now… at the dark end of a very dangerous street.

But music may well be one of our most radical resources. For our resilience.

Late last year, after my father died, I turned to music. To the “music of the night” – the iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber song, which we saw together in London. The original, with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman.

But my father loved another song too. So, this story is for him. And for all of us, right now:

In a hotel in Washington DC, at dawn; on Monday, November 18, 1861:

A woman woke suddenly.

Her name: Julia Ward Howe. Her husband, Samuel, a famed educator of the blind. They both led the fight against slavery.

She had been processing words as she slept. She now sprang out of bed:

“I must get these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them.

“I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper…”

The words were for a tune, sung by the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.

She had been asked to compose new lyrics, for “a fighting men’s song”.

And so as the sun rose over the capital of the United States of America, the “Battled Hymn of the Republic” was born.

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

“He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

“He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword:

“His truth is marching on.”

All together now…

The world now knows the chorus that follows.

The “Battle Hymn” became the rallying cry for the Union, in the American Civil War, under Abraham Lincoln. Who famously warned: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

He implored all America to unite against slavery. His plea wasn’t heard, and America went to war with itself, “brother against brother”. More than 620 000 men died. The “Battle Hymn” has united many, ever since 1861.

Winston Churchill asked it be played at his funeral.

So: In this crisis: What do we sing?

Words like this, by the rapper Eminem:

“I’m not afraid to take a stand; “Everybody come take my hand; “We’ll walk this road together, through the storm;

“Whatever weather, cold or warm;

“Just let you know that, you’re not alone.”

Perhaps…

Perhaps, we need a new song. A battle hymn.

For union. In this crisis.

South Africa needs a new song. A battle hymn. For union.

In this crisis