Aftermath

26 Feb, 2023

MUSIC Information:

• Before the Sun goes down
• F Major / D minor
• 24 Measures
• Cello and Piano
• 3:03 min
• 4 Pages

“Fighting for peace, is like fucking for chastity” ― Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis

FIGHT BACK

No one needs to experience war firsthand to understand the essence of its character, which reveals the very core of pure evil, exposing the darkest aspects of humanity. There are times, however, when aggressors declare war and leave no room for neutrality, in which case, we have to defend ourselves at all cost, disputing the demands imposed upon us. When faced with such aggression, we don't have a choice but to capitulate or to fight back.

Our victory or our defeat depend on numerous factors, many of which lie beyond our control. Yet when circumstances appear to favor us, we strike with such force in a desperate intent to defeat the enemy who threatens to reshape our world. However, when talks of victory arise, one cannot miss the fact that defeat is a close equivalent, because, to be victorious in war, one must renounce all honorable way of life.

WHO CARES WHO WINS

When unwanted conflict arrives, fear floods the body before reason has a chance to speak. It could come with such force that it drowns you. The worst part is not the violence itself. It's the fact that we didn't start it. We didn't look for it. We didn't provoke it. It arrives anyway.

Some people sink under its weight and call it surrender. Others fight until the very end, surrender is not an option, even when death is. Suddenly we are involved. Whether we simply react or respond strategically to it, we pay the price. If we make it alive, we celebrate, if we died, who cares who wins.

UNSEEN FORCES

There is another kind of war humans have long identified - the war between “good” and “evil”. The more ideas and myths we construct around it, the more we - humans - look like mere commodity, becoming objects freely replaceable by these two unseen forces, simply because we find ourselves in the middle of their unjust ways. Because, again, we didn't look for it. We didn't provoke it. It is here anyway.

“Evil”: Will not display the full reasons for its fight.
“Good”: Has chosen to remain silent in the case at hand.

INCREDIBLE STORIES

If all of this is true, then we do not possess adequate equipment to defend ourselves in an invisible war that it has been forced upon us._ How can we fight a war that does not belong to us? There's no victory nor defeat, there's only an endless parade of casualties.

Therefore, in order to find a reasonable answer to the predicament of why humans find themselves in the middle of this fiercely, out of sight battle that takes place and to which there is no end, we invent incredible stories and stretch beyond our limits, Yet, sadly, in the end, there are no answers.

OUR WORSE ENEMY

On the other hand, the tragedy of the human condition may not be that we are at war with some opposing force, but that we are at war with ourselves - only to realize later in life that we could have avoided the disadvantageous battle in front of us. Plenty of times, with no doubt, we are our worse enemy without even realizing it.

I'm presenting a piece that I wrote while reflecting on the repercussions war leaves behind - the isolation, the pain, the horror. The violence of war, does not align with my understanding of the world. I am not naive, I recognize brutality for what it is. Yet, this sentiment does not deserve to be replicate or glorified with music. I will not fall into the trap of celebrating vile acts.

DANNY BOY

If you are listening to or performing this piece, I invite you to reflect on one of my favorite poems, Danny Boy by Frederic Weatherly. The interpretation of its lyrics is deeply personal and may differ from one listener to another; for me, however, it has always spoken of what death leaves behind — the heavy absence, the longing, the echo of love that remains. It speaks to what love endures when everything else is uncertain.

And maybe that’s why it feels connected to the aftermath of war — not because it celebrates sacrifice or heroism, but because it speaks for the ones who are forced to stay behind. For the silence that follows. For the emptiness. For the kind of love that has to learn how to go on without someone coming back.

Oh Danny Boy By Frederic Weatherly

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling
It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

But when ye come, and all the flow'rs are dying
If I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an ave there for me.

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me