Tears of the Mighty
Stream "Tears of the Mighty" at https://bnd.lc/totm
This song represents a lot of the values I wanted to express through music and why I created Greyfade as a medium for that. My good friend and collaborator Mounir shared a few thoughts on the meaning of this song:
By nature, we are judgmental, and it is imperative that the judgements we make on any matter, come as a rationalization of the way we perceive reality. While trying to make sense of the world, we tell ourselves stories. We weave a narrative that shapes our experience, and this narrative develops over time, and changes as we age.
As adults, we are more mature and balanced in these judgements. More nuanced, you’d say. But as children, we tend to find our bearings by calibrating our distance from extremes: Order vs. chaos, clean vs dirty, happy vs. sad, good vs bad.
Growing up in the war-torn paradise that was Lebanon, the simple stories we were told by our folks about the war, shaped my perception of the army as good, and the politicians as bad. Balanced nationalism and a will to serve one’s land and people is surely something admirable. Words like honor, sacrifice, loyalty and valor immediately come to mind.
As I grew older, I realized that the political and military institutions are intrinsically linked, and to my dismay, I learnt that in most cases, the army is being used as disposable pawns (hint hint, Metallica’s Disposable Heroes) in the politicians’ blood stained chess board.
If there is one image that summarizes my dismay is this image of a crying soldier: This soldier has no option but to obey orders, and quash a popular uprising against a political elite that has taken my country hostage.
This soldier, save for his uniform, belongs with the protestors, not against them. This soldier probably suffers more than 80% of those in the streets protesting. How then, can we be surprised when this internal turmoil leaks out as a single tear leaving his bloodshot eyes?
When talking colors, grey is the midpoint between black and white, but it is neither. It can turn out great, yet it may go tits up. Looking at the events in Lebanon, and in many places around the world, I can only hope that the greyness we live in daily starts making its way into the light. And that flicker of hope is what "Tears of the Mighty" means to me.