Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came along at the end of the 1970's The golden age of progressive rock was over. the disco craze was in full swing and the new wave and punk rock were the new kids on the block. Unfortunately for Tom Petty his original record company him to radio stations as another new-wave sensation. this was a complete disservice to him to him as it soon became clear that his talent owed less to new wave than it did to the glorious traditions of folk rock, the British invasion and mainstream rock -n - roll. Hit after hit confirmed this including "Refugee" the 1980 top forty single, taken from the Album "Damn the Torpedoes"
We got somethin' we both know it
We don't talk too much about it
Yeah it ain't no real big secret all the same
Somehow we get around it
Listen it don't really matter to me baby
You believe what you want to believe
You see you don't have to live like a refugee
Somewhere, somehow somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Tell me why you want to lay there
And revel in your abandon
Listen it don't make no difference to me baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
You see you don't have to live like a refugee
Now baby you don't have to live like a refugee
Baby we ain't the first
I'm sure a lot of other lover's been burned
Right now this seems real to you
But it's one of those things
You gotta feel to be true
Somewhere, somehow somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away and held for ransom
It don't really matter to me
Everybody's had to fight to be free
You see you don't have to live like a refugee
I said you don't have to live like a refugee
The lyrics of "Refugee" are about a relationship in which the woman is so emotionally broken that she is living like a refugee from the other. It does however open up a thought about those who are living like refugees. Especially those who are fleeing for their lives in some of the trouble spots of the world. There are over 17 million refugees all over the world who are officially classified as refugees. Most are amongst the poorest people on the face of the planet. Many of these refugees live in camps that help to maintain them slightly about starvation level. Still others are roaming from place to place, outside the law, outside the boundaries of "Normal" society, always looking over their shoulder, always expecting a knock on the door in the middle of the night.
Tom Petty's song is not about being a "refugee" in the sense of being displaced from you home, or you country but the repeated cry "You don't have to live like a refugee" does echo the challenge that many might face when trying to cope with what has gone on in their own lives, that has been so painful, that it effects all their relationship from that time forward. Sometimes we feel like refugees, in our own towns, workplaces. We feel that we are refugees from a past life that does not make sense to us anymore. What makes us refugees in our own lives? It may come from a disagreement with the predominant culture and values of society. We feel left out, that we are always swimming upstream against a strong current of opinion. It can come from a personal tragedy, such as the breakup of a marriage, the death or serious illness of a loved one, the loss of a job, or a prolonged depression.
Jesus to was no stranger to refugee status. In Matthew's Gospel Joseph, Mary and Jesus become a family of refugees that are forced out of their home and into exile in Egypt. This was due to king hero's political and social madness. He had ordered the genoside of infants. So fleeing was the best thing to survive.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
Jesus also encountered many refugees when he was older. those who had been outcast by their communities. Those who were the pawns of the system for all sorts of reasons. Jesus rubbed shoulders with those who were damaged and were rough treated. Those from different nations, those who had misunderstood health conditions. Those who had different beliefs. Those were widows and orphans. If you read the gospel accounts of Jesus he encountered many that fit this category.
Do you feel like a refugee? In what way do you feel that? What are the sources of you being alienated? Do you feel alienated from society? I have recently encountered someone who is alienated from the church. Alienated from the very people who should be open, hospitable, welcoming, caring and compassionate. The truth is that God is near to those who are in distress? The song "Refugee" is encouraging the woman in the relationship not to live like a refugee. In doing this the song offers hope.
Hope is the very thing that will bring comfort to anyone who is alienated from home, family, friends, country. Hope is the very thing that keeps the fight alive. I'm thankful that when I hear this track and read God's word that hope rings through for all kinds of refugees today. After all is said and done there is still hope.
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