Written within the first week of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, to the people of Ukraine and to dear friends there. How does a soul respond when reckless hate pours over the land and its inhabitants?
lyrics
[ To the loved ones in L’viv, Ternopil, Kyiv, Irpin, Mykolaiv, Ochakiv, Odesa, Transkarpati, and all across Ukraine ]
Where you gonna be when the world ends?
Are you gonna come with me?
I’ll take you where the grass grows green
On the banks of the salt salt sea
Where will you be when the road comes to its end
Tanks down every street
Will you ride against the armies of darkness
Or will you stomach bitter defeat
Even if our hands are tied
On the hill on which our fathers died
This darkness we will face
A legacy they cant deface or erase
Soldaty cry to hold the line
Men of action it’s not the time
To fall victim to their plans
Hoist your sword with weary hands
and ascend
Could you believe the role peace plays in our plans?
For how can there be peace
A millenium— one side against the other
Weened on hate— nothing tastes sweet
What then of the children
Generational repeat
A maternity ward cast six feet asunder
No flowers grow when buried down so deep
Such bitter tastes not of this world
From sullen ground no colours unfurl
Dark shadows ‘cross the land
Force war from peaceful hands
For we’re the ones who must turn the soil
Though salt sea rise and the rivers boil
We must fight another day
Til peace can find a way
Don’t weaponise your hate
It burns all in its wake
Don’t play into their plan
They want you to burn with hate
just like them
For we are all but human in the end
And death waits ‘round the bend
So plant these seeds of peace in the rubble
And when we’re all gone a good legacy
— ascends.
credits
released February 24, 2023
written and performed by Brother Hill, Hiddensee Publishing.
recorded, mixed, and engineered by Patrick Himes, Reel Love Studios.
mastered by Alex McCullough, True East Mastering.
artwork by Mykhailo Skop, NEIVANMADE.
Proceeds from this excellent new darkambient/neofolk comp from LEFT/FOLK goes to benefit American Near East Refugee Aid. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 10, 2024
The Oakland singer's latest album imagines the power struggle between man and nature as a slow, steady tempest of dark folk. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 20, 2019