It's interesting how things that come into our heads have a way of appearing and reappearing in our consciousness. For many years, I loved the Rolling Stones' song, Gimme Shelter. In fact, it's one of the top-three songs on my favorites playlist on my iPod. I've always thought the song's message was somewhat out of character within the Stones' musical collection, but it stands on its own as a strong piece of music with one heck of a powerful message. I saw the Stones play live in Atlantic City in late December 1989 (16 rows from the stage!). That night's version of Gimme Shelter gave me chills and cemented it in my mind as one of the most meaningful songs of our time. Silly, you say? Have you ever listened to the words? Here are abridged lyrics, reprinted without any type of permission whatsoever:
Gimme Shelter
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad dog lost its way
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
The floods is threat'ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away
This song is brought to mind because just this week, UNHCR launched a Global Appeal to raise funds for humanitarian efforts in Eastern Congo, featuring a film called Gimme Shelter that was directed by actor Ben Affleck. The film is currently available on YouTube.
"We made this film in order to focus attention on the humanitarian crisis in the DRC at a time when too much of the world is indifferent or looking the other way," said Affleck, who launched the film at a special briefing with UNHCR at the United Nations in New York on Dec. 17. "The suffering and loss we've all seen first-hand is staggering; it is beyond belief."
Affleck traveled this fall to the strife-torn North Kivu region of the DRC, where thousands have fled their homes since August. The film is set to the Rolling Stones' song Gimme Shelter, which Jagger and the group donated to the campaign.Jagger described the human suffering in the DRC as appalling and expressed strong support for Affleck’s awareness-raising efforts.
"The Rolling Stones are very happy to contribute Gimme Shelter in support of Ben's efforts to raise the profile of the conflict in the Congo," Jagger said. "I hope this video will help highlight the plight of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people and also the thousands of innocent people who are needlessly losing their lives there."
Gimme Shelter captures the unseen suffering of Congolese families who fled the fighting with next to nothing and are now forced to find refuge in makeshift huts with little to live on. Some 30,000 others have fled to neighboring Uganda and are receiving help from UNHCR.
There are currently 1.3 million displaced people in the DRC, many of them earlier victims caught up in an ongoing cycle of violence. The effects of the conflict have claimed as many as 5.4 million lives in the last 10 years, with an estimated 1,000 people still dying every day. In some areas, two out of three women have been raped. Abductions persist in all brutal forms and children are forcefully recruited to fight. Outbreaks of cholera and other diseaseshave increased as the humanitarian situation deteriorates.
Click here to watch this short film.
for more information on the Gimme shelter campaign and the events in DRC, go to http://www.unhcrshelter.org/
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