Tags: Amy  Bob  Desire  Dylan  Griffin  Iraq  Nine  of  Parts  Patty  Raasch  Tracers  war  
Channel: Music
Uploaded: May 12, 2008 at 9:53 am
Author: amyraasch
Length: 04:08
Rating: 5.00
Views: 156
This is a first draft of a song I didn't mean to write. It just happened. Three things you should know:1. My best friend, who is half Iraqi, half American, wrote a hit one-woman play, "Nine Parts of Desire" (which you should go see this week if you're in Chicago). One of the characters is a 13 year-old Iraqi girl who talks about how they used to sleep on their rooftop at night, to escape the heat. They can't do that anymore.2. "Exposure," the New Yorker article about American soldier Sabrina Harman, "the woman behind the camera at Abu Ghraib." We were all horrified by those images, so I was struck by the article's account of her kindness to the Iraqi people at Al Hillah (before she was sent to Abu Ghraib) -- particularly the children. They would run to her and crawl on her lap, and she did everything she could to make them smile. The article described a kind of naivete that she maintained, which rides the line of insanity. (P.S. - She is not to be confused with Lynndie England. Google them both for more info.)3. Homeless - I live in Venice, CA, and the homeless are part of my daily life. Unfathomable sadness, addiction, mental illness -- I often wonder what their stories are, why they ended up on the street. Many of them are veterans. I thought about my uncle, a Vietnam vet who to this day won't talk about it. Then I imagined someone like Sabrina Harman after the war, after prison, after all of the press, having to go back to "normal" life, and failing. Her shield of insidious naivete ultimately collapses in on itself.THE ROOFTOPS OF BABYLONCopyright 2008 Amy RaaschStand outside the old drugstoreIn a tattered green coat I kept from the warLean my bike against the glassForget why I cameThere's no one to askThey loved me at Al HillahOld men brought me teaKids gave the thumbs upTold me how they used to sleepOn rooftops at nightTo deal with the heatWhere do I belong?Home seems strange and farThey told us to stay strongSo these kids could see the starsShining on the roofs of BabylonYou'd have thought the crumbling streetsTo look at their smilesWere miles of beachAsked me, could they see my gun?I snapped a quick pictureSomeone called me "Mom"Speakers blared the call to prayerI rested my eyesMy mind white as airOnce we got to Abu GhraibIt was mortar o'clockWhile in mosques they were prayingWhere do I belong?This time it's gone too farThe nights are black and longExplosions block the stars From shining on the roofs of BabylonLet me take your picture so I can recallYour stories in the skyWe'll pretend it's safe to lie on our backsLike Eden never diedStand outside the old drugstoreThe sign flips to "CLOSED"The man locks the doorSomeone whispers, "She's a freak.It's people like herMake our country weak."Where do I belong?My heart throbs like a scarHow could it go so wrongWe just tried to free the starsTo shine onTo shine onTo shine on the roofs of Babylon