The song begins with the person in the song talking about wanting a fresh start. You cannot be sure from the song that the person who is wanting a fresh start is male or female. Whoever the nameless person is they want to leave this "old town" in search of something new. There are "warning signs" to "leave this city" for reasons explained later in the next part of the song. The city has left it's mark therefore once they leave - if ever - "I will book himself into a soul asylum" or a place where they can shelter a spirit that may have been broken from staying in the "old town" for so long. In the 2nd stanza, "scratching around the same old hole" indicates the person being still has not been able to get out of the dump yet. The body may feel young, but the mind feels old because the years have gone by without being able to reach somewhere beyond the confines of the town. The once joyful spirit and youthful spark seem to be "half the world away". The subject of the song could be a soul mate whom the person in the song has not yet met, but still imagines is out there somewhere. But the hopes of meeting a soul mate do no good as long as they are stuck in the "old town." They are half the world away, and until the speaker passes the borders of his city, that is how far they will stay.
This old town don't smell too pretty and
I can feel the warning signs running around my mind
And when I leave this island I'll book myself into a soul asylum
And I can feel the warning signs running around my mind
So here I go still scratching around the same old hole
My body feels young but my mind is very old
So what do you say?
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway
You're half the world away
Half the world away
Half the world away
I've been lost I've been found but I don't feel down.
So here I go still scratching around in the same old hole
My body feels young but my mind if very old
So what do you say?
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway
You're half the world away
Half the world away
Half the world away
I've been lost I've been found but I don't feel down
Here is a song of real longing. A song that echoes the feelings of being hemmed in. No where to run to. No escape from the realities of life. In recent tabloids there have been a run on reports about the 10 worst places to live in England or the 20 worst places to live in the UK. In these reports there is a feeling of helplessness and captivity. On TV channel 4 's observational documentaries of life in Winson Green, Birmingham "Benefit Street" and life in Grimsby in "Skint" show the flip side of life in their hard hitting docu dramas. Nic Dakin, MP for Scunthorpe, writing in complaint to Channel 4 about "Skint" says “This is not a documentary it is an I’m a Celebrity type programme. It is a particularly poor piece of television and does not represent the area accurately at all,” he told BBC Radio Humberside. There is a real danger that in reporting this kind of thing that we are turning the poor into objects of entertainment.
Getting back to the song there is a real longing for freedom from the grind and monotony of life that people feel. This was no more true than for the people that Jesus is born amongst. In the gospel stories we touch the real lives of those who lived at the time of Jesus. We engage with the oppression on Rome and the oppressive regimen of religion. We also touch the lives of those who are oppressed and abandoned. Despite the oppression, for many there was a strange form of hope. Most Jews had some form of future hope; in general, they expected God to intervene in history and to restore Israel to a state of peace, freedom, and prosperity.
Not all Jews expected God to send a son of David as Messiah to overthrow the Romans, though some did. The Qumran sect believed that there would be a great war against Rome, that the sect would emerge victorious, and that the main blows would be struck by the angel Michael and finally by God himself. Notably, a Messiah plays no role in this war of liberation.
Some Jews were ready at any moment to take up arms against Rome, thinking that if they started the fight God would intervene on their side. Others were quietists, hoping for divine deliverance without having a more specific vision of the future but entirely unwilling to fight. Whatever their specific expectations, very few Palestinian Jews were completely satisfied with the governments of Antipas, Pilate, and Caiaphas. As God’s chosen people, the Jews felt they should be free both of foreign domination and of ambitious worldly leaders.
It is into this scene of that Jesus comes. In Luke Jesus returns from the desert and brings his presence to bear on his home synagogue.
This is Jesus' own manifesto for the oppressed, the captives, the poor, the blind. Good news where this is only bad news. Liberty where there is only captivity. Seeing to those who are blind. To the oppressed comes freedom. The year of the Lord's favour is about to break out among them. What this looks like takes Luke the apostle )who is the biographer for Peter) another 20 chapters to explain. God comes to those who are looking for a way out and God in the flesh (Jesus) works and serves to this end. Through Jesus in unpredictable ways justice and right living is restored to people not only those who are Jews but in Luke's writing to all who reside on this globe. May God bring you hope, justice and peace this day.
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