Hey I'm stuck on an island and I couldn't care less
If you can't get on with each other, then this is a mess
Well, there are holes in the buildings, and you hide behind walls
Just tell me how many days now till this city falls
Isabelle, oh, Isabelle
Do pray, do pray, do tell
Here the oceans are near and we've got food for our thoughts but not much to spare
So tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)
Spell it out I can't hear (What do you want to hear?) Why you wear black in the mornings; why there's smoke in the air (oh)
Isabelle, oh, Isabelle
Isabelle, oh, Isabelle
Oh, those tears on your cheeks, just like deja vu flow now, when your grandmother speaks
So tell me a story, spell it out I can't hear
Why you wear black in the mornings, why there's smoke in the air
Isabelle, Isabelle
Do pray, do pray, do tell
Isabelle, oh, Isabelle
Do pray, do pray, do tell
If you can't get on with each other, then this is a mess
Well, there are holes in the buildings, and you hide behind walls
Just tell me how many days now till this city falls
Isabelle, oh, Isabelle
Do pray, do pray, do tell
Here the oceans are near and we've got food for our thoughts but not much to spare
So tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)
Spell it out I can't hear (What do you want to hear?) Why you wear black in the mornings; why there's smoke in the air (oh)
Isabelle, oh, Isabelle
Isabelle, oh, Isabelle
Oh, those tears on your cheeks, just like deja vu flow now, when your grandmother speaks
So tell me a story, spell it out I can't hear
Why you wear black in the mornings, why there's smoke in the air
Isabelle, Isabelle
Do pray, do pray, do tell
Isabelle, oh, Isabelle
Do pray, do pray, do tell
How could this be about Bosnian war, bc the song and the video were released in 1991. And the War in Bosnia started in May 1992.
Bosnian - 20/2/2021 - 14:22
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"For years people have asked who Isabelle was: 'were you shagging her'? But no. It was the height of the Bosnian war and I remember seeing a TV interview with some kids who were stuck in Sarajevo at the height of the bombing and thinking how utterly removed from that situation we were in New Zealand, thankfully.
"And I wondered what it would be like to sit down at have a chat to those kids: people who looked like us, and should have been having fun and playing music but were running the gauntlet of snipers. So essentially, it's an anti-war song, but I wanted to give it a personal face. That's kind of my schtick when it comes to songwriting: to take bigger pictures and bring them in close. That's the only way you can really understand these things.
Greg Johnson