90. Guns "N" Roses "Paradise City"

A song about dreaming of a better tomorrow, "Paradise City" rides the urgent, hopeful riffs of Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash into the promised land. It's a pretty safe bet that a lot of disheartened souls have sung along with Axl Rose's desperate wail of "Take! Me! Home!" over the years, with the volume cranked all the way

Take me down
To the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Take me home

Just a' urchin
livin' under the street
I'm a hard case
that's tough to beat
I'm your charity case
So buy me somethin' to eat
I'll pay you at another time
Take it to the end of the line

Ragz to richez or so they say
Ya gotta-keep pushin'
for the fortune and fame
It's all a gamble
When it's just a game
Ya treat it like a capital crime
Everybody's doin' their time

[Chorus:]

Strapped in the chair
of the city's gas chamber
Why I'm here I can't quite remember
The surgeon general says
it's hazardous to breathe
I'd have another cigarette
but I can't see
Tell me who you're gonna believe

[Chorus]

So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away

Captain America's been torn apart
Now he's a court jester
with a broken heart
He said-
Turn me around and
take me back to the start
I must be losin' my mind-
"Are you blind?"
I've seen it all a million times

[Chorus]

"Paradise City" Reminds me of the psalm of captives. That was song by the rivers in babylon by the people of God. They were lost and longing for home and a better tomorrow. They sang a song of deep lament as passionately as Axel Rose.

When reading of historical exploration and the discovering of new worlds I wonder if you are like me and you often wonder about what has really happened in people’s lives, or what were their circumstances that forced people to flee their homelands or to emigrate to a new land, with a different language, culture and traditions; and what did they think would happen when they reached their destination? I have always admired and marvelled at the adventurous spirit that inspired those ancient explorers to seek new lands and new seas; I also have great respect for the inquisitive minds that created and developed new ways of relieving exhausting manual labour, and the scientists who develop new drugs to combat diseases; and I am in awe of the many artists, writers, poets and musicians who open a new world to people. But how far we have travelled as a human race, and how far we have yet to travel in matters of compassion, generosity, hospitality and spiritual growth! Some times with all that is going on in the world I wonder how far do we yet have to travel to become more humane?

The Jewish people who were taken into captivity in Babylon had no idea how long it would be before they could return to their beloved Jerusalem, (It would be 70 years in total) with all its social and religious significance to their nation. Yet, through their history of disobedience to God, they never dreamed that life as they knew it would end like it did in disaster. Theirs was not a journey of exploration with its hopes for a new beginning in life; instead, it was a traumatic experience of degradation and despair, a capture and imprisonment. As captives they lost all that identified them as a nation under God’s holy rule and worship, with none of their sacred rites. Despite the depths of their despair, they never lost hope for their release or their reinstatement as God’s own people. Despite all the people’s pain and despair, it could not compare with God’s suffering over the unfaithfulness of God’s own people! When the people finally did call on God for help, all they cried out for was revenge for all they had lost. in the midst of all that pain and loss they cry and sing with as much passion as Axel Rose when he screams "TAKE ME HOME". This psalm is a psalm of lament but at the same time a psalm of hope and longing. It's a lament or song of dreaming of a better tomorrow.

I believe that the value and lesson of this Psalm to us as individuals, is found in the last verses where the author asked God to act, rather than acting himself. We may not agree with what he wanted God to do, but at least the author turned to God in his pain! Finally, it seemed that those suffering people were able to let go their anger, and hand it over to God, for God to act as God so chose. This brought a sense of freedom to them even in their captivity - to dream, to hope, and to pray. Those distressed people had the faith and courage to hand their desire for vengeance to God; and in return, they started the long healing process necessary for them to return home, and to truly worshipping God. There are obvious links in this psalm with the lyrics of Guns 'n' Roses "Paradise City"  "Take Me Home"  "So Far Away" "Take me down to the Paradise City"

It was in Babylon by those rivers that the people of God remembered Zion. They remembered all that they had lost and it was by those rivers that they had at least some resolve and dreamed and hoped for a better future, of a better tomorrow. Perhaps you too have come to place where you have lost hope and are dreaming of a better tomorrow. My prayer is that in your lament you do not lose hope but find the strength from God to press on and that God travels the road with you.