Grant Us Peace

Ken Canedo

You Rate It | Lyrics | Artist Reflection

Lyrics

Refrain
Grant us peace, grant us peace.
Only love can make us free.
Grant us peace.
1. Ever loving God, hear our prayer.
We, your children, have a song for you.
May the Spirit shine in all we do.
May we always follow you.
2. Leaders of the world, hear God now.
Beat the swords into a farmer’s plow.
Jesus said, “My peace I give to you.”
May compassion see you through.
3. People of the world, we are one.
May the nations train for war no more,
for the Lord proclaims a lasting peace.
May he rule from sea to sea.

Artist Reflection

It was April 1992. The four LAPD officers who were on trial for the beating of Rodney King received their verdict from a courtroom in Simi Valley, California: not guilty! A predominantly white jury had acquitted the white officers of all charges of violence against the African-American motorist they had pulled over. The reaction from the black community was shock and disbelief, and this anger erupted almost overnight into a full-scale riot that decimated the city.

The Los Angeles Riots would last for several days, and the extensive media coverage shocked the world. By the time it was over there were 53 deaths, over 2000 injured, and almost $1 billion in material damage. Stores were looted and buildings were set on fire as anarchy ruled. The riots of Los Angeles inspired similar uprisings in the Bay Area. An angry San Francisco mob displayed their solidarity with LA by tipping cars over and smashing windows in downtown storefronts.

At the time, I was rehearsing with my band, Serious Children, in the heart of Oakland. We were an inter-racial punk pop band and I had just joined them as bass player. After a couple of hours of jamming, we turned on the TV and were amazed at the destruction that was going on in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Suddenly, there was Rodney King himself, facing the cameras. "Can we just try and get along?" he implored. Here was the man whose beating at the hands of the police was the source of all the civic unrest. Now he was pleading for peace. It was a heart-wrenching moment. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes so my bandmates wouldn't notice, but they were crying, too.

I drove home carefully around midnight. My bandmates pleaded for me to spend the night with them at their rehearsal studio because it would surely be unsafe to drive Oakland that late. But I wanted to get home. I lived in a warehouse in a somewhat dangerous neighborhood near Alameda and I felt a responsibility to get home and see if my roommates were okay.

The streets of Oakland were deserted. Police cars were everywhere, red lights blaring. At one point a patrol car drove up next to my truck and the officer shined a light on me. I rolled down my window and told him I was going home. He nodded and zoomed down the street.

I felt horrible about the riots and helpless. I wanted to do something, anything, to help make the world a better place, but I was just one person, a punk rock musician, no less. What could one man do?

I prayed. This was during my prodigal time and I hadn't really prayed for a long time, but as I drove back to my warehouse I prayed for peace. That's what Los Angeles needed now. The closing words of the Lamb of God prayer at Mass kept circling in my head: "Grant us peace, grant us peace . . ." By the time I got to my warehouse I had set the words to a new anthem-like melody:

Grant us peace, grant us peace.
Only love can make us free.
Grant us peace.

Fast forward about a year and a half. I had just met Jesse Manibusan, and we were asked to lead the music at the Diocese of Oakland's annual youth rally. By this time, I had made my return to the church and to youth ministry. (See Fly Like a Bird.) Jesse and I were at a liturgy planning meeting and we tossed around ideas for the Communion Song. We wanted to do something new and exciting that the teens could get into. I suddenly remembered "Grant Us Peace" and played it for Jesse from memory. I had no verses yet, but Jesse liked it and encouraged me to finish the song. I did within a week, and we sang it at the youth rally, and in several other youth events over the next couple of years. The song was always received enthusiastically.

And then, I forgot all about "Grant Us Peace" as I started composing more new music, including all the songs that eventually went on the Love Never Fails CD that Jesse and I produced. "Grant Us Peace" was buried in my music files until last summer, when OCP asked if I had any songs to contribute to their new NEVER TOO YOUNG music resource for students in grades 4-8.

So I dusted off the old song and was amazed at how well it stood the test of time. In fact, with our country now at war in Iraq, the message of peace is just as valid as it was in 1992 — maybe even more so.

So, here's "Grant Us Peace," a song of hope born of 1990s violence, for use in this wartime decade. I pray daily that the war in Iraq ends soon, and that peace prevails.

- Ken Canedo