Well I recall his parting words
Must I accept his fate
Or take myself far from this place
I thought I heard a black bell toll
A little bird did sing
Man has no choice
When he wants every thing
We'll rise above the scarlet tide
That trickles down through the mountain
And separates the widow from the bride
Man goes beyond his own decision
Gets caught up in the mechanism
Of swindlers who act like kings
And brokers who break everything
The dark of night was swiftly fading
Close to the dawn of day
Why would I want him just to lose him again
We'll rise above the scarlet tide
That trickles down through the mountain
And separates the widow from the bride
“Scarlet Tide” was performed by Alison Krauss for the Civil War movie “Cold Mountain.” The phrase “the scarlet tide of war” appears in a collection of poetry called Hebrew Lyrics by Hans Busk, published in London in 1861. The phrase is part of “Lyric cxxiv:”
Hot was that rampant rage that threatened to devour
And had consumed us in its wanton flame
Hadst Thou our hosts forsaken in that trying hour,
Nor stemmed the scarlet tide of war that came
To drown Thy nursling-nation and its name. ...
It is a paraphrase of part of Psalm 124. I treasure both Alison's recording and Joan Baez' version. Both are very powerful for my family right now as my daughter's husband prepares to go to Iraq with his national Guard unit.
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