We Want Peace
Why haven't we learn from our past?
Hi all,
Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “We Want Peace”, by Lenny Kravitz. If you’d like to hear the song before you read about it, you can find a YouTube video below the article. Comments and questions are welcome. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below.
🔰Note: Today’s article is written at a level of TOEFL (PBT) 350, Pre-2, CEFR A2.
(343 words)
The Background
In 2001, the U.S. was attacked by a group of people who hijacked four planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers, two very tall and very important buildings in New York City, and the Pentagon. One plane crashed in a field. The government said that the group Al Qaeda did this terrible crime. On that day, over 3,000 people were killed. The American public and people around the world were shocked and saddened.
After the disaster, many Americans wanted revenge, to hit back, because they were hurt and angry. President Bush sent the U.S. military to Afghanistan in 2002.
Many people in the U.S. and around the world wanted the U.S. to stop and think before attacking another country. However, in 2003, President Bush said that Iraq had very dangerous weapons, and its leader had to be stopped.
Lenny Kravitz wrote this song in 2003 and allowed it to be downloaded free from the Internet.
The Song
Come on people / It's time to get together / It's time for the revolution!
Here it is once again in our face / Why haven't we learn from our past?
We're at the crossroads of our human race
To be at the crossroads means being at a point where you have to make an important decision.
Why are we kicking our own ass?
To kick someone’s ass means to fight someone. Here, the song says we are just fighting ourselves.
We want peace / We want it, yes / We want peace / We want it, yes / We want peace / And we want it fast
We're on the eve of destruction, my friends
To be on the eve (the night before) of destruction means that you are very close to something really bad happening, for example, the night before a big storm.
We are about to go too far
Politicians think that war is the way / But we know that love has the power
The solution is simple and plain / There won't be peace if we don't try
In a war there is nothing to gain / When so many people will die
Questions
• In Lenny Kravitz's song, he talks about being "at the crossroads of our human race." What does he mean by this, and why is it an important moment?
• What is the difference between what politicians think and what the singer believes is the right way to achieve peace? Why does the singer think love is important?
Vocabulary
be saddened 悲しくなる
revenge 悲しくなる
revolution 革命
We’re kicking our own ass 私たち自身のお尻を蹴る
destruction 破壊
politician 政治家
What politicians think and what we think will never tally, what politicians want and what we want will never tally. Which, I think is why their existence and power is almost always based on promises that are lies… we cannot win, wars are never won, not in reality, despite that there is always a party that believes it has, the repercussions are countless…
I pray for peace every day Louise, I’m not sure which, or if indeed any god listens to me but I will never ever stop. X
The Iraq war was such a tragedy because it was based on a fundamental lie.
All wars are tragic. But war seems to be part of our human nature.
How can we end war if it is so fundamental to our species?