Songfacts®:

• This is the title track of Steve Earle's Jerusalem concept album, which contains songs about a post–September 11, 2001 world. The cut finds Earle imaging lasting peace between Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Middle East.
  
  Earle explained to The Salon the reasons for his approach to the ongoing Israel and Palestine problem. "Our attention has been turning back to Jerusalem for 2,000 years," he said. "Some of the holiest sites of these three closely related belief systems are in this one area, and three of the most sacred are in one piece of real estate smaller than this little neighborhood here. We keep turning back to Jerusalem for a reason. So I believe we'll get it right, or else. I believe we'll eventually do the right thing in that part of the world. I believe that our future, our existence as a species, will be determined in Jerusalem."