"Divided©"
Primary Verses Written by Kevin J. Amon, Chorus & Bridge Written by M. S. McKenzie
Performed by American Storyteller Music, Protected by Copyright ©
"Divided"
I wrote "Divided" out of a fairly plain, unguarded worry about how fractured the world has come to feel, disaster after disaster, lives lost, memories missed, and peace seeming further away than it should. The world is so divided, peace doesn't ever exist, where is the glue to fix things, opens the song as an honest question rather than a rhetorical one, because I don't think I actually have the answer, only a conviction about where to start looking for it.
The story behind the song is the answer I do offer, love as a healing flame rather than a strategy or a policy. With one heart let your voice take flight, and turn this darkness into light, is deliberately simple, almost naive, because I think the complicated solutions get proposed constantly and the simple one, choosing love over hatred, gets skipped past too easily.
What I care about most is the bridge's question, can you feel a certain longing deep inside, can you feel that spark of hope we can't let die, because I wanted the song to trust that most people, whatever side of whatever divide they're standing on, still feel that same longing for things to be whole again. Songs Across America has room for a song this direct about hoping the world can mend, hand in hand, if we would just begin.
Uplifting, anthemic ballad built on a soaring, hopeful chorus, moving from honest lament through a rising bridge toward a unifying close.
Global division and disaster, love as a unifying and healing force, shared human longing for wholeness, and hope chosen deliberately as a starting point for repair.
Primary Subject:
A fractured, disaster-weary world, and the plea for love and unity to begin mending it.
Mood:
Mournful at the opening, deepening into earnest longing, and closing on hopeful resolve.
The world's fractures can feel too large to fix, but the starting point isn't complicated, it's choosing love and unity over the anger and hatred that keep widening the cracks, one voice and one hand at a time.
[Verse 1]
The world is so divided
Peace doesn't ever exist
Where is the glue to fix things?
Lives are gone and memories missed
[Chorus]
But love can be a healing flame
Through the darkness, call out its name
With it, we can rise above the pain
Together we can break these chains
With one heart let your voice take flight
And turn this darkness into light
[Verse 2]
Lives continue to be in ruins
Disasters appear everywhere we look
Visions of sadness seem to prevail
The human minds are lost and cooked
[Verse 3]
The world is filled with too many cracks
Each day they widen even more
With the anger and hate in this life
Each day seems to be like a chore
[Bridge]
Can you feel a certain longing deep inside?
Can you feel that spark of hope we can't let die?
Hand in hand, we will surely learn again
The world can mend if we would just begin
[Verse 4]
Hatred seems to be the only way
Civilized understandings don't exist
Compassion in life is a virtue
Now people's lives are missed
[Verse 5 / Outro]
People need to come together
Let's stop all the division
Letting love into your lives
Making unique happiness an addition
[Chorus]
But love can be a healing flame
Through the darkness, call out its name
With it, we can rise above the pain
Together we can break these chains
With one heart let your voice take flight
And turn this darkness into light
[Chorus]
But love can be a healing flame
Through the darkness, call out its name
With it, we can rise above the pain
Together we can break these chains
With one heart let your voice take flight
And turn this darkness into light
Divided is a heartfelt reflection on the fractured state of our world, blending personal grief, global sorrow, and the enduring hope that love can heal what hatred has broken. It is both lament and call-to-action, a song that acknowledges deep division while offering a path forward through unity, compassion, and collective strength.
Verses: The Reality of Division
The verses, penned by Kevin Amon, carry a raw honesty. They capture images of fractured lives, relentless disasters, and human disconnection. With lines like "The world is filled with too many cracks / Each day they widen even more" and "Lives are gone and memories missed", the song confronts listeners with the weight of despair and the fatigue of living in a society consumed by conflict, disaster, and apathy. These verses stand as a sobering canvas of pain and longing, a truthful acknowledgment of where we are.
Chorus: A Flame of Healing
In contrast, the chorus:contributed by M.S. McKenzie:lifts the song into an anthem of resilience. Its soaring imagery of love as a "healing flame" reminds us that even in the darkest moments, human compassion and connection can cut through despair. The repeated calls to "rise above the pain" and "turn this darkness into light" give the song its driving purpose: to inspire unity through hope.
Bridge: The Spark of Renewal
The bridge builds on this energy by addressing listeners directly. It asks, "Can you feel a certain longing deep inside?":a question that resonates universally in an age of uncertainty. The promise that "the world can mend if we would just begin" reframes the song from sorrowful reflection into a rallying cry, urging collective responsibility and the courage to take the first step toward healing.
Final Verses and Outro: A Call for Togetherness
As the song moves toward its close, the verses shift tone, transforming from grief into hope. The message is clear: people must "come together" and allow love to enter their lives if humanity is to find peace. The outro blends seamlessly into repeated choruses, reinforcing the central theme until the message lingers long after the music fades.
Style and Tone
Musically, Divided can be imagined as a powerful ballad:one that grows from quiet, almost mournful verses into soaring choruses, where voices and instruments rise together like a chorus of hope. Whether performed with acoustic intimacy or full-band arrangement, the song invites both personal reflection and collective singing, making it equally at home in a quiet listening space or as a unifying anthem in a public gathering.
In essence, Divided is a song of contrasts:darkness and light, despair and hope, division and unity. It captures the sorrow of a broken world but refuses to surrender to it, instead calling on love as the force that can bridge divides and heal the human spirit.
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