SHORT TAKES : Timely Message in Styx Song

Styx leader Dennis DeYoung says he wrote “Show Me the Way” as a song of hope and searching, a theme that has apparently struck a chord with radio listeners as the Persian Gulf crisis unfolds.

Several disc jockeys around the nation have remixed the song to include news bites and comments on the war against Iraq, A&M; Records’ officials said Thursday.

Among the words are: “I close my eyes and know there’s peace, in a world so filled with hatred. Then I wake up each morning and turn on the news to find we’ve so far to go.”

“As the gulf crisis has unfolded, I’ve personally gone back to the song for inspiration, and I can’t express how gratifying it is to have it used that way by others,” DeYoung said.

Disc jockey Ray Edwards of WOKI-FM in Knoxville, Tenn., edited remarks from government leaders, soldiers and callers into the song, which station officials said is a top request.