Song Description

This contrasts the activities of two bombers. I had in mind a US pilot over Afghanistan and a Palestinian suicide bomber in, say, Tel Aviv. But, the song could just as easily be dealing with the same geographical area - almost as a tit for tat

Lyrics

gun metal blue soaks the sky as the desert wind provides the day
the arc lights fade as darkness dies and the pilots congregate to pray
billy reads the psalm and billy knows the valley will not contain his death
his table is laid and in billy's world there is no shibboleth

the whitewashed walls and wooden doors hide the gentleness of one too young
past the rubble and the sheets of iron under soulless brilliance of the sun
aisha hears the call and it's not the muezzin with his advocacy
but youssef with his promises of joy and bliss and ecstasy

billy believes in god but not enough to die
he comes from wealth and power, from five miles high
aisha believes in allah but not enough to live
she comes from almost nothing with just her life to give

the turbofans are talking now, the afterburners white with words
guided missiles and precision bombs, a ferocious, brutal butcherbird
billy reads the screen, the sterile electronics are the only things he needs
and you can bet that billy has never heard of harun al-rashid

youssef's women take her clothes, she feels the weight upon her skin
they construct their walking weapon, give her dreams and a little heroin
aisha hears of her death, clinging to the meaning she's never had before
the stones upon the road are hard as flint and harsh as allah's law

one believes in liberty but only if it's his own
one longs for the freedom which she's never known
both believe in sudden death and both will end the day
with death upon their hands in this deadly interplay

unleavened bread is passed around and the laughter holds the evening sweet
overwhelming force makes its turn and speaks from thirty thousand feet
billy reads the vdu, the data tell him it's now time to go back home
billy doesn't care about the burning bread or the broken honeycomb

local wine sits on the tables, hidden kisses bless the warm night air
holding hands, holding heaven, not a single one of them's aware
that aisha hears the song, the words of which are calling her to paradise today
and aisha sings,???.and the kisses blow away

billy believes in god but not enough to die
he comes from wealth and power, from five miles high
aisha believed in allah but not enough to live
she came from almost nothing with just her life to give
one believes in liberty but only if it's his own
one longed for the freedom which she'd never known
both believed in sudden death and both ended the day
with death upon their hands in this deadly interplay