Saturday, October 02, 2021

Song #53 A Hug for the Borderguard


 

A HUG FOR THE BORDERGUARD (listen)


Last night they opened up
 THE WALL
A source of wonder to us all
Now those who live on the other side
Can walk in peace that great divide
And go on home again

    The world is changing
Cold War - what was it anyway?
I was born too late to have a say
That wall - I touched and I gazed at it
And wondered at the why of it
Last night they tore the damn thing down
No man's land became a place for clowns
    A hug for the borderguard
As I watch the tears and joy of all those who
Can't quite believe it's OK to go through
Makes me think that I would like to be there too
As they pull the whole thing down
No man's land becomes a place for clowns
Berlin becomes a reunited town
    Is the Cold War over?
     
      If it happened there it can happen anywhere
      A source of hope for the unfree everywhere
Last night they opened up the wall
A source of wonder to us all
No man's land became a place for clowns
Berlin became a reunited town
    Is the madness over?
    A hug for the borderguard
    The world is changing

(Copyright  Michael Coghlan 1989)


Commentary

Like millions of others I watched the TV in awe as vision showed cars and pedestrians moving freely out of East Berlin into the west. I remember seeing a car stop. A woman got out and gave the soldier at the border post a huge long hug. It was one of the more powerful images I'd ever seen. I've never forgotten it. This is my celebration of the Berlin Wall coming down.

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