A meditation on the tragic shooting August 27, 2025, at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis, Better Angels continues the theme of life’s fragility, this time in the context of the epidemic of gun violence that plagues the USA. James learned of the shooting after finishing a recording session for the record and re-wrote a prior song of the same title in response, bringing it back into the studio a few days later.
Lyrics
Read the news this morning, it’s happened once again.
People scatter, bullets shatter a stained-glass windowpane
Neighbors wage a war of words about the right to own a gun
Kids are bleeding out beneath the morning sun
Thoughts and prayers are everywhere then get packed away
Until the next time shots ring out on some other day
Better angels of our nature, where can you be found?
We need help to end this madness; we need common ground
Better angels give us strength so we can find a way.
If ever you were needed, you are needed here today
Better angels sound the trumpets; shake us from our sleep
Remind us of the promises we’re obliged to keep
Better angels wake our hearts or only time will tell
If this handbasket finally travels all the way to hell
Better angels of our nature, where can you be found?
Better angels raise us up so we find higher ground
Better angels give us strength so we can find a way
If ever you were needed, you are needed here today
If ever you were needed, you are needed here today