  We propose that the spectrum of light mesons (the $\pi$ and $\rho$, together
with their radial excitations) can be calculated in the limit of vanishing
light quark masses by studying gauge theory (open string theory) on suitable
higher dimensional background geometries. Using the metric proposed by Witten
for glueball calculations as a paradigmatic example, we find a spectrum which
is in startlingly good agreement with the masses tabulated by the Particle Data
Group. These calculations have only one free parameter, corresponding to the
overall mass scale. We make predictions for the next several particles in the
spectrum.
