"Another Day in Paradise" is a protest song recorded by Phil Collins. Produced by Collins along with Hugh Padgham, it was released as the first single from his number-one album ...But Seriously (1989). As with his song for Genesis, "Man on the Corner", the track has as its subject the problem of homelessness; as such, the song was a substantial departure from the dance-pop music of his previous album, No Jacket Required (1985). Collins told The New York Times how the song came together: "It was begun at the piano. I started playing and put it down on a tape so I wouldn't forget it. Then I decided to see what would happen when I started singing. When I began, the words just came out, 'She calls out to the man on the street.' I didn't set out to write a song about the homeless. Those were just the words I happened to sing. It was only then that I decided that was what the song would be about." Many of the songs from ...But Seriously were written in attempt to offset what Collins called middle-of-the-road song choices that made his reputation "a little more trivialized than I wanted to be." He had just played the title thief in the 1988 adventure comedy Buster, for which he recorded a hit cover of the '60s pop song "A Groovy Kind Of Love." He told Musician: "'Another Day in Paradise' was chosen because it was a bit different from what had gone on before. It would bring people back to the starting line of remembering what I'm about. I write 'In the Air.' I'm quite capable of writing a 'Two Hearts,' but let's not forget I'm also doing this kind of stuff."
She calls out to the man on the street
"Sir, can you help me?
It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?"
He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there
Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,
You and me in paradise
She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she's been crying
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet
Can't walk but she's trying
Oh think twice...
Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say
You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that she's been there
Probably been moved on from every place
'Cos she didn't fit in there
Oh think twice...
Collins sings the song from a third-person perspective, observing as a man crosses the street to ignore a homeless woman, and he implores listeners not to turn a blind eye to homelessness because, by drawing a religious allusion, "it's just another day for you and me in paradise". This addresses the consequences of ignoring the needy and homeless. It's a rare Phil Collins hit with a socially conscious message. Collins also appeals directly to God by singing: "Oh Lord, is there nothing more anybody can do? Oh Lord, there must be something you can say?" In the bible passage today in Exodus 3:1-10 we hear the cry of the city builders and listen in to the call of God on one mans life that will propel him into the places of sseeking Justice.
The book of Exodus is the story of God rescuing the children of Israel from Egypt and making them His people. Exodus is the second book of the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses), and it’s where we find the stories of the Ten Plagues, the first Passover, the parting of the Red Sea, and the Ten Commandments. Exodus picks up where Genesis leaves off: the young nation of Israel is in Egypt (they were invited by Joseph, the one with the famous coat). A new Pharaoh notices the Israelites multiplying, and enslaves them and conscripts them to be city builders. Afraid of an uprising, he orders that all Hebrew sons should be cast into the Nile at birth. But one son escapes this decree. Moses is hidden in a basket and set afloat in the Nile—where Pharaoh’s daughter discovers him. Moses is grows up as her son. When an adult Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he kills the Egyptian and leaves the country to escape capital punishment.
Forty years later, God appears to Moses as a burning bush and sends him to deliver Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. Moses, with the help of his brother Aaron, confronts Pharaoh on God’s behalf: “Let My people go” (Ex 5:1). Pharaoh refuses, and so God sends 10 plagues upon the Egyptians:
The complete focus of Exodus is found in Exodus 3:1-10 where moses hears the voice of God and recives the call to go and fight for justice with Pharaoh. God's plan is to free the israelistes who have been made captive and given the role of city builders. By the work of their hands thay have toiled in building Pharaoh's cities and palaces. The fundamental truth in the passage is that God hears their cry and sees their pain. The cry from the heart of the city and the pain from lives in captivity. Phil collins sings "Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do" "Oh lord, there must be something you can say" this is Collins response to homlessness in the city. We are not told what city but hear it is. Collins gives a contextual example of what it looks like and feels like to be homeless in the city. We are left with the question does any one hear and can anyone do something. This is exactly where the burning bush incident is equal. God choses Moses to be the instrument of freedom, peace, justice and comapassion.
Vs 7 says "The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them"
Jesus still walks the streets of the city calling for people to join him in caring for the lost, the last, the least and the lonely. Let's be peole who hear the challenge to work for justice and compassion in the heart of the city.
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