It's a controversial thing to say
But I'm going to say it anyway.
Everybody's wanting peace,
The quest for which must never cease
But be careful what you're wishing for,
Be careful what you're wishing for;
A peace that's bad can be worse than war.
No road to peace is a single track.
It's vulnerable to attack
And though it maybe seems unkind,
Chanting mantras makes you blind
To everything that's gone before,
To everything that's gone before.
A peace that's bad can be worse than war.
Cast your mind back to Versailles.
Fifty million had to die
For that was where the seeds were sown
Before Hitler could be overthrown,
And peace is so worth fighting for –
Yes, peace is so worth fighting for
But a peace that's bad can be worse than war.
Peace that's seen to be unjust
Fuels conflict and distrust.
Grenades left lying in the road
Are always waiting to explode.
So join me, bring it to the fore –
Join me, bring it to the fore;
A peace that's bad can be worse than war.
But even now, across different lands,
I'd guess that it would take two hands
To make a register of those
Where peace of sorts has been imposed;
And this is what we answer for –
This is what we answer for.
A peace that's bad can be worse than war.
Nobody knows it more than I,
That old men speak and young men die.
And yes, there has to be a case
To parley for a breathing space
But someone has to keep the score,
Someone has to keep the score.
A peace that's bad can be worse than war.
This isn't new. It's history.
Tacitus said it before me;
And maybe someone prior to him –
Someone else out on a limb.
But it bears repeating just once more,
It bears repeating just once more:
A peace that's bad can be worse than war.
For everything that's gone before,
This is what we answer for.
A peace that's bad can be worse than war.