Worldwide

Good God I miss Gene. This is a song about realizing how utterly powerless we are in the face of the immensity of the trouble and grief in this world. though he the population of the world is now twice the three billion mark...

"Headman" Joseph Shabalala was the leader of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (probably best known for their work on Paul Simon's "Graceland" record). He was shot and killed just before this song was written.

I love the line about "We put some stickers on our bumper." So true to life. We (at least in America) will gladly put a cool and/or trendy bumper sticker on our car that supports some cause, but when it comes down to actually helping people, or making the really hard sacrifices, we almost always wimp out and think, "Let somebody else do it."

This is the way a protest song should be written. Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, take note.

That last verse, Gene clearly sings "and THE spirit weeps for all of us" not "his spirit weeps for all of us," which moves the meaning away from the idea of recently murdered Headman Shabalala's spirit crying for all people and places it on what is likely a "capital-S Spirit." One could possibly take this as the collective Human Spirit, but I have a strong feeling it's a reference to the Holy Spirit, who weeps for the bloodshed, injustice, and suffering borne and carried out by humanity.