Shoowee

Chalk it up to life being complex. The story we hear about Islamists in the Western world is very black and white: they are evil, we are good. But, its not that simple. A lot of people who join up with ISIS, for example, are young. They join because they've been manipulated, and are too naive to comprehend the gravity of their actions. The truth comes out when they are faced with an injunction to commit some horrible act. I can imagine three dudes in their early twenties, told that Westerners are evil and deserve to die and ordered to kidnap and hold them hostage only to realize that the Westerners aren't so bad, after all. It must be very confusing. In the same way, it must have been confusing for Singer and his friends to be in that situation, realize they were in danger but also realize they were dealing with kids. As Singer says above, "I completely understood their position. The hard part was the reality that they had to die."

Death, indeed, is simple and final. But, what happens in life is much more complex than our minds can fathom.

I've see you guys once, years ago when you were touring after your first album. It was at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. I was really moved by the music and the pairing of it with a background video showing some out-of-focus birds perched on wires silhouetted against an orange sky. At a climax during the show, the camera focused and the birds took flight. It's a long shot, but do you know who made this video? I'd just like to check out more of their stuff.