not even the dead

a new single, regrettably timed to the moment

For the occasion of today’s release of “Not Even the Dead,” the second single from Elevator Songs, I had initially drafted an essay on a different topic. Then came the news of the U.S. and Israeli-led attacks on Iran, the deaths of scores of children, the deaths of many fewer Americans. I felt sick, as if my liver, spleen, and kidneys were all competing for space within my stomach. A song I’d written as a means of reckoning with the past was now in conversation with the present.

“Not Even the Dead” is set against the long shadow of the so-called “Forever Wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those post-9/11 quagmires, which stretched over two decades, hummed along in the background of American life, often invisibly and inaudibly. The burden of these conflicts fell largely on a minuscule fraction of the population: less than one percent of all U.S. citizens served overseas, of whom more than half completed multiple tours of duty. Of the three million or so Americans who fought in those wars, nearly two-thirds returned with an officially recognized disability. Tens of thousands sustained serious bodily harm—brain injuries, lost limbs, paralysis—with countless more affected by PTSD. Three thousand veterans of those wars have committed suicide.¹

As the United States leaps brashly into another war of choice, it is worth considering the profound betrayal that the attacks on Iran represent for American families whose lives were upended by the Forever Wars, who believed that Trump’s isolationist rhetoric signaled the end of imperialist American foreign policy. In hindsight, “America First” turns out to have been a transient rallying cry that brought together—for naked political gain—a loose coalition of Christian nationalists, economic protectionists, and shellshocked military families. If that alliance has been fractured, the lives of many who fought our wars have been inexorably undone.

Each tune on Elevator Songs (save the first and last, sung by me) was written for a particular member of Roomful of Teeth. “Not Even the Dead” features Mingjia Chen, who, in addition to being a fierce songwriter and composer, is gifted with one of the most malleable and expressive instruments I’ve ever encountered. If you’ve listened to “Speaking in Tongues,” you will have heard her, at the climax of the second interlude, come to the center of the texture, yelping, keening, pleading with terrifying ferocity. Here, you will experience her in intimate devastation mode.

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Now, as ever, is a great time to pre-order your copy of Elevator Songs in the format of your choice. This record required the labor of so many folks, which means that, yes, it cost a good deal of money to make. Your support, as ever, would mean the world to all of us.

In other news, I’ll be playing songs new and old at Strum PDX on Saturday, March 14th, backed by the crack rhythm section of Andrew Jones and Matt Mayhall. A few dozen tickets remain. Tickets are also on sale for the Elevator Songs tour, which kicks off on April 17th in Burlington, VT, and will continue with stops in NYC, Boston (ish), Nashville, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Those shows will feature successive solo sets from Teeth & me, after which we’ll come together to perform the album in its entirety. Hope to see you there! Lastly, thank you as always for reading.

1. For further reading, visit https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/human/us-military-veterans-contractors-allies