from: http://www.lilydale.net/lyrics/motherland.htm
This House is On Fire
"I actually wrote This House is on Fire during the
WTO protests in Seattle and the presidential ballot
dispute in Florida. I saw people taking to the
streets to find their collective voice and to be
heard. I decided to ask Stephen Barber to write the
string arrangement in that particular mode because I
am a fan of North African pop music, especially Om
Kalsoum, the famous Egyptian chanteuse. It is very
strange how events are conspiring to give this song
possible new meaning I could never have imagined."
Motherland
"The title song, Motherland has much deeper resonance
since the events of September 11th and its aftermath.
I was far more cynical when I wrote, 'Motherland
cradle me, close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep, keep
me safe, lie with me, stay beside me, don't go.' Now
the song is a desperate plea for innocence, to be
'faceless, nameless, innocent, blameless and free,'
expresses a craving we all share now for the world we
took for granted and lost. Suddenly there seems to be
no hiding from our past as a nation or our present,
or our future. For me it's the death of nostalgia and
dreams."
Saint Judas
"I wrote Saint Judas in response to an exhibition at
the New York Historical Society that contained the
most difficult images I had ever seen. It was the
history of lynching in photography. I knew that Mavis
would understand my words and deliver them. I wanted
to hear that incredible powerhouse of a voice, but I
also asked her because of her close association with
the Civil Rights movement. The Staples Singers wrote
'Freedom Highway' and 'Why Am I Treated So Bad?'
during the acts of civil disobedience and
desegregation in the Deep South. They sang along side
Dr. Martin Luther King on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington, D.C. Singing with Mavis was
an historic event for me."
Put the Law on You
Build a Levee
Golden Boy
"Golden Boy was a song I wrote without being
absolutely certain of its meaning. During the
recording the engineer commented that he couldn't get
the image of the infamous boys from Columbine High
School out of his head. I suddenly realized that I
was addressing the unhealthy tendency we have as a
culture to fix our attention upon our deviant and
violent outcasts. Names of serial killers are easier
to conjure than names of great humanitarians. We
repeatedly make celebrities out of psychopaths
whether we intend to or not."
Henry Darger
"I saw my first Henry Darger collage/paintings in the
early 1980's when the tale of Henry's life was an
oral tradition new born. He lived and died a recluse
in Chicago, no one knew of his writings or of his
paintings. There was a small folk art gallery in New
Orleans that had acquired a small pile of his
illustrations. Taken out of context the seven little
horrified girls pursued by a purple and orange winged
cat was so odd. I was instantly curious to see more.
The search for evidence of Henry Darger was
difficult, brief mentions in surveys of outsider
artists. A retrospective of his work appeared years
later at the American Folk Art Museum in New York.
Henry's manual typewriter was on display along with
large-scale painted scrolls of the Vivian Girls, the
objects seemed like holy relics to me."
The Worst Thing
Tell Yourself
"The damage that young girls inflict upon themselves
with low self esteem is terrible to see. So many
teenage girls are convincing themselves that they
don't measure up to the impossible standards of
physical beauty the media has invented. I want to
tell them all, ' just love yourselves a little bit
more.' "
Just Can't Last
Not in This Life
I'm Not Gonna Beg
"I wanted to write a song that anyone could
understand, everyone's been rejected and struggled to
seem proud. I'd love to hear Aretha Franklin cover
this song, just once."
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