A Matter of Habit - Moddi

Learning to kill is a matter of habit

The more you have done it, the better you’re at it

It starts on the alleys of Sechem at night

The borderlines blur in the evening light

A rifle butt bangs on an old rusty door

«Where is your father?

Get down on the floor!»

Soon it gets serious, a curfew’s declared

The city falls silent, there’s death in the air

Cocking his weapon with shaking fingers

Grits his teeth as he’s hugging the trigger

Young blood rushes, his heart pounds

He knows it gets easier the next time around

They’re just objects and shadows, not women and men

Learning to kill is a natural thing

Learning to fear is a matter of habit

The more you have done it, the better you’re at it

News from above reach the street

There’s no hope of living, the end is so near

Tidings of terror, a raven’s crow

Shutter your windows, lock up your homes

We’re just a handful, a tiny country

Surrounded by evil, they won’t let us be

They have hate in their hearts and in all that they bring

Learning to fear is a natural thing

Cruelty is a matter of habit

The more you’ve seen it, the better you’re at it

Every boy has a tyrant’s desire

Hands behind the head, legs spread wide

These are times of danger, times of despair

No room for compassion, a soldier can’t care

Our neighbors are vermin, they’re used to the blood

How can they feel pain when they’re living in the mud?

Through cruel routine a soldier is born

Ignorance soon turns to evil in war

Israel’s land is for Israel’s kin

Cruelty comes as a natural thing

Learning to love is a natural thing

It will find a way if you just let it in

It will be strange at first, but then you’ll see it

That learning to love is a matter of being

Being human is a matter of habit

A few baby steps, then you get better at it

To be for one minute, just now, just recall

The opposite side of the towering walls

But our hearts have hardened along with our skin

We built a bubble and let no one else in

We’ll be staring in wonder as the angel falls

Then being human will be a matter of course

Will be a matter of course