A Hill High Enough
I am apolitical (I believe all politics is a futile waste of life and energy at this point), and to preserve my own mental health I no longer follow the “news.” But the big stuff filters through.
A Hill High Enough is a song that attempts to locate the Jewish people within the historical context of thousands of years of oppression and persecution. All peoples have experienced this to some degree. Every tribe of humans has been savagely impacted by enemies intent upon exterminating them. Innumerable tribes and civilizations have been utterly eradicated.
But, to my knowledge, the Jews are the only people who have managed to survive thousands of years of repeated efforts to extinguish their kind, while somehow surviving as a tiny minority of the world’s population while maintaining their ethnicity and cultural heritage to any degree. And these efforts at extermination have continued right up through the current time. The pogroms of the 19th and 20th century killed hundreds of thousands of Jews and left millions without homes. And of course the Holocaust killed millions.
A Hill High Enough to Die On
The Continued Effects of Trauma
My belief is that the Jewish psyche carries unparalleled levels of encoded post-traumatic distress. I believe I carry it. A white American, I grew up in a Christian home in California. But my grandfather was a Dutch Jew who survived The Holocaust and the Hunger Winter by sheltering in an attic. To survive he risked his life every night to gather tree bark and tulip bulbs that he could gnaw on to somehow stay alive. This man helped to raise me, and so I share his experience and influence as well as his genes.
The Perverse Cycle of Human Existence
Now, the Nation of Israel has created in Gaza a ghetto of their own for the Palestinians. In the perverse habit of all human history, the oppressed have gained the upper hand and are inflicting on their enemies the same scourge of terror that have suffered so many times.
A Hill High Enough to Die On – The Existential Threat
I believe that Militant Zionism poses a grave threat to the people of the Middle East. Furthermore, the current crisis provides the perfect pretext for the US to enter a regional conflict in the Middle East. That gives us a new chance to threaten global peace and security in the interest of continued US global dominance, enforced, of course, by the most savage military the world has ever known.
Those who raise their swords to Zion prepare the alter we’ll have to lie on
And if you’re marching unto Zion you’ll find a Hill High Enough to die on
The Daily Stone
Hey there Dirtsmith! Just subscribed to your website and am checking out your posts now!
First of all, I just want to say you are a truly phenomenal singer!! I really mean that. I’m not often swayed emotionally by vocals alone, but I found your voice truly beautiful and haunting. Are you a fan of the folk-rock group America? Because I definitely hear a real similarity in style with you and them.
These are very worrying and wearying times indeed and I have exactly the same outlook as you, regarding politics. I avoid the news like the plague as well for mental health reasons, and also those “talking heads” who are forever full of opinions but who go nowhere with them (and also take their followers nowhere).
We must keep our heads up high and hope to get through these hard times!
Wow, thanks so much Wilf! ☺️ I’ve heard of that group, and I bet there are songs by them that I might recognize, but I have never listened to them. I will check them out.
I am so glad that you can connect to the song. And I hope you find something else you like here, either in previous posts or going forward.
You’ll probably enjoy their songs a lot; they were famous mostly for a song called “A Horse With No Name” in 1970 but had many great other tracks such as “Ventura Highway”, “Sandman”, “Don’t Cross The River”, “Tin Man”, “Three Roses” and many others. Their songs all have an ethereal, soothing quality which I felt your voice also conveyed, amidst singing about such a difficult subject matter. I’ll freely admit, I’m largely ignorant of international politics, but I think amongst most ordinary, sentient people around the world, there is definitely a shared sense of horror being experienced on what the people of Gaza are currently faced with – I truly hope nothing comes of this madness and that it represents an actual turning point for the betterment of the Palestinian people.
I’m really enjoying your content here on this site, Dirtsmith, and I’m really appreciating your perspective and where you are coming from! I will greatly enjoy looking at your posts in the future and scrolling through your other content.
Thanks Wilf! The feeling is mutual ☺️
I DEFINITELY know horse with no name, that’s a great song! I will check out the rest 🙂