“I stare at the TV numb to the soul; so much hurt and anger in this world we call a home. A little boy washed ashore, his life is at its end; and I have been shaken to the core.” Ellie Betteridge-Garvey’s song lyrics capture the sentiments of millions of people around the world.

BY Ellie Betteridge-Garvey

I stare at the TV
numb to the soul;
so much hurt and anger in this world we call a home.
A little boy washed ashore,
his life is at its end;
and I have been shaken to the core.

I feel so damn
helpless in my lounge room
a whole world away.
If I could have
put my arms around him
I would have any day.
He was a pearl, a diamond,
and we didn’t look after him.
This must be the greatest fault in being human.

I wish I could protect them,
I wish I could save them,
from the hatred that has driven them
from their own homes.
But I’m not God
and I don’t know how to reach across an ocean, oh oh!

I feel so damn
helpless in my lounge room
a whole world away.
If I could have
put my arms around them,
I would have any day.
They are pearls and they are diamonds
and we didn’t look after them.
This must be the greatest fault in being human.

There’s a fire burnin,
black smoke rising up;
someone speaks with hatred in their hearts instead of love.
They don’t see the damage the racism and islamaphobia does;
so I hang my head in shame that this is the human race.

I feel so damn
helpless in my lounge room
a whole world away.
If I could have
put my arms around him,
I would have any day.
He was a pearl, a diamond,
and we didn’t look after him.
This must be the greatest fault in being human.

Oh God there has to be some hope,
even for those who want to turn a blind eye.
Promise me we will find a place and a time where our hearts start beating as one;
with the only driving force being that of love.

I feel so damn
helpless in my lounge room
a whole world away.
If I could have
put my arms around him,
I would have any day.
He was a pearl, a diamond
and we didn’t look after him.
This must be the greatest fault in being human.

Oh God, there has to be some hope for us
I couldn’t bear to watch a little boy washed ashore.
You know, he had so much more to give to this world, ohh ohhhh!