'Shelter me from the powder and the finger / Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger.' - 'Powderfinger'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker asks to be protected from both the violence of war and the guilt of the person who caused it.
- In plain terms
- Protect me from the war and the one who started it.
- What can you take from it?
- Acknowledge the dual harm of conflict: physical danger and moral burden.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do we separate victims from perpetrators in conflict?
- What does it mean to be sheltered from guilt?
Another view
It assumes the listener accepts the metaphor of the finger pulling the trigger as a source of guilt.
More from Neil Young
'It's better to burn out than to fade away.' - 'My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)', quoted by Kurt Cobain in his suicide note.
Permalink to quote #10 'There is a town in north Ontario / With dream comfort memory to spare / And in my mind, I still need a place to go / All my changes were there.' - 'Helpless'
Permalink to quote #12 'The same thing that makes you live can kill you in the end.' - 'From Hank to Hendrix'
Permalink to quote #9
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