Willie Nelson

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Hear ”The Price” by Bill Johns

Bill Johns previously recorded his version of “A Peaceful Solution” and we are honored to have it. Bill also sent us this song and after hearing it we had to write an article about it as well.

Bill Johns not only gave us 20 years service in the United States Air Force but he also continues his service to our country with his music.

We have become blessed to have Bill Johns offer his songs to us.

Click on the link above and read along with the lyrics below.

While you do that, listen a little deeper to the man behind the song and performance. Listen to the deep emotion and undeniable truth from which his story springs.

Bill Johns delivers something unique to us.

Bill Johns brings home the unquenchable sorrow of someone who has had experiences no one in their right mind would envy.

These experiences should not be visited upon anyone.

Pause and reflect before clicking on to another page the world we live in that permits the existence of these experiences.

There you are, at your computer.

You have access to electricity and consumer electronics. This is the 21st Century. And Bill Johns sings to us of a reality that belongs in centuries long past.

If progress in technology means anything then the world deserves peace now. All of the advances we enjoy count for nothing in a world that creates the things Bill Johns experienced. If progress were to have any meaning at all, then progress would create peace.

Peace is the only progress worth aspiring for.

The Price by Bill Johns

Third ID on the road
to Baghdad they roll
16 years of service this time
The year may have change but it’s oil still the game
and plain to see who’s getting’ paid
They send him everywhere never knowing when or where
or if he’ll see his family again
In an unarmored hummvee when that roadside IED
rips him from this world

Chorus
Yea he knew the story
knew his blood they call glory
it’s his life they sacrifice
yea this man he paid the price

So he’ll take his last plane ride
clad in a body bag
and at the airport his family waits this last time
But, the administration they don’t care no
and the whole world couldn’t bare
the burden that they share

Chorus
Yea they know the story
it’s daddy’s blood they call glory
it’s his life they sacrifice
now this family pays the price

Now this man’s time passed much to fast
just to keep us in gas
and his widow and children they cry alone
But we drive our SUVs and we think this makes us free
for this he gave his life

Chorus
Don’t you know the story
I know it’s blood they call glory
I seen the young life they sacrifice
and buddy it ain’t worth the price
next time please let’s think twice

Part of being human means you have the capacity for empathy and compassion. It means you understand not just the price but also the cost of war.

And with this cost in mind how can anyone justify destroying peace for personal profit and petty luxury?

* * * * * Artist’s Statement * * * * * 

I wrote this song in 2004 at an Air Base in the Middle East. I was reading a book when I over heard a conversation between a soldier (who was recovering from some type of battle wounds) and someone who was giving him some Glory hype about his heroism.

The soldier was having none of it and told the guy that he came in (the Army) to serve his country but when bullets fly all that goes out the window and survival was the only concern. Then he said he had lost his squad leader who just wanted to be with his family.

Then he told the guy that there was no way to win in a battle because there were only two ways out (kill or die) and he couldn’t say which was worse.

I thought, “Yea that guy knows the story”.

The next day I had troops who were working on a cargo plane with “sensitive CARGO?” They were having trouble fixing a problem and people grew impatient so, they called me out as the senior person for the specialty. I got there and everyone was mad and yelling at each other.

I was always good at smoothing these things out so, I was not worried. However when I boarded the aircraft I saw something I was not prepared for,

the sensitive CARGO was flag draped caskets.

My mind flashed back to the day before and the story about the young man losing his leader, the family losing a father/husband/son…etc. I could never regain my composure.

This steamed through me in what seemed like a second (words and melody). In the next week or so I kept trying to write down the lines that were etched in my mind and soul but, I could only manage a few words before I was overcome with tears. Eventually I got through it and spent months trying sing and play the melody without crying.

I was there three more months and by the time I returned I played the full 8-minute original version for my wife Tarita. When it was over she was crying.

I can’t speak for anyone but, myself. I made a career in the ugliest game I can imagine. I volunteered and I do not expect or want sympathy. It is what it is; I took part and ended up with a guilty conscience. I made my own bed!

My new dream is to perform my songs at peace benefits and charity fundraisers. I want to spend the rest of my life (peacefully and non-violently) working for peace, the environment and any other social program/issue.

I don’t think I could ever wash the blood off my hands but I’d like the opportunity to try.

I only started writing songs for therapy; they are all deeply personal and hard to share.

Right now something deep in my soul is telling me I have to share.

I hope this song can help someone else as much as it has helped me…

I’d like to thank Willie, his family, friends, and all the people supporting in the dream of peace.

“The only thing that’s been a worse flop than the organization of non-violence has been the organization of violence.” -Joan Baez-

Hear ”The Price” by Bill Johns

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Tags: Arts, Peace

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