About the Songs:
These
three songs all deal with the Israeli/Palestinian
situation from different perspectives. "Rafah" is
dedicated to the memory of Rachel Corrie and
Tom Hurndall, and tells something of the circumstances
of their tragic deaths. "The
Price of an Orange" tells
a more personal story based on Starhawk's visits
to Rafah. I've also included a
song of my own, "Moriah,
or The
Three Tests of Abraham," which
retells the Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah,
Isaac,
Hagar and Ishmael from a different and contemporary
perspective.
The
first two songs are collaborations between
eco-feminist and activist Starhawk (lyrics)
and Songs of
Conscience site-steward Mark
Simos (music).
Starhawk has made several trips to Rafah and
so writes
from personal experience of the situation
there as an observer. Read Starhawk's
essay "The
Price of an Orange" which inspired
the two songs to learn more.
Co-writing
almost always involves each partner delving
into
all aspects of the song, but in
this case the reality of the situation conveyed
by the lyrics was so strong that I (Mark)
would have felt it presumptuous to attempt
to write
lyrics without more personal experience on
the ground. It has been an honor and an education
to work at setting Starhawk's words to music,
and exploring the common ground that opened
up
for us both. (We may post some reflections
about the writing process at this site in
future.)
Starhawk
is an activist, organizer, and author of Webs
of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising and
eight other books on feminism, politics and
earth-based spirituality. She teaches Earth
Activist Trainings that combine permaculture
design and activist skills, and works with the
RANT trainer’s collective,
that offers training and support for mobilizations
around global justice and peace issues. To get
her periodic posts of her writings, email:
Starhawk-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
and
put ‘subscribe’ in the subject
heading.
