The Night Sky - Keane

Keane's distinctive is their use of keyboards rather than guitars, though the keyboards sometimes sound like guitars. This 2006 charity single for War Child is a heavily reverbed, nostalgic but subtly belligerent track that moves at a slow measured pace with very piano-like keyboard accompaniment. The song was composed by pianist Tim Rice-Oxley and is written from the perspective of a child caught up in war. We begin with nostalgia - "One day I will be back in our old street safe from the noise (ie of bombs) that's falling around me". We then move to the manifesto, which involves releasing the town "from the people (ie the warring factions) who are trying to knock it down". This will lead to a regeneration. The town will be returned to a previous utopian state where "only city lights will brighten the night sky and there will be no sound" or, to be exact, sounds not of bombs and artillery but of people going about their business in bars, markets, banks and (gratifyingly) churches. More nostalgia marks the later lines about longing to "stand at the bus stop"; "browse in a bookshop" or "sleep and always be still". The longing is to "be set free from the people who are trying to bury me". The final lines are powerful - "And then only fireworks will light the sky at night for all the world can see". Of course, the song offers no solutions. There is no suggestion of how all this can be achieved. It is all someone else's fault and because this is a war child speaking we cannot object. This is merely an innocent longing for peace, a longing that we can all identify with, whether we have lived through war or not. A pleasant tune, fine vocals and lyrics that are intriguing enough to provoke interest make it an excellent modern pop song.