The Story of Esther pretty much laid down the rules for how to write a Hollywood thriller, packing in as it does all the classic elements: paranoid ruler, sneaky deputy, bucket loads of sexual politics, an epic struggle of good versus evil, a comic-yet-murderous subplot - you couldn't make it up...
This song is my attempt to understand what we, today, can learn from this rip-roaring story, and the way that we've been celebrating it for the last 2,500 years - by dressing up, telling the story, feasting and giving gifts to our friends and to the poor.
Having looked into it a bit, I discovered out that dressing up and giving gifts aren't just random ideas for getting the kids out the way, they're actually important and transformative, for us and for those around us, and that's where the song goes, explaining the connections between the ancient story of sex and politics and our imperative today to care for our fellow humans.
I hope you enjoy it...
lyrics
Hook
The truth of this world is hidden
But people are livin in a prison
Chasing power and fame
But you know it all fades away
The truth of this world is hidden
But people are livin in a prison
If you hear the Megillah this Purim
Then you will hear it calling
Verse 1
Did you know that the name of the heroine of Purim
Esther [whispered] means the star of the morning
Breathing the rays of hope and calling
Light to disseminate cos day is dawning
-
?But what was the day that Esther started?
?What was the lesson that her life imparted?
Simply – we gotta take responsibility
Cos in this life we're livin in, Divinity is hidden see
-
And some folks front but none have got the ability
To bring a miraculous delivery
Like splitting the sea we just can't conceive
This epitome of miracles – it's just too deep
-
And that's why Esther was born and blessed
To suggest how we need to address this test
It's easy to remember the light when it shines
But what you gonna do when the light, done hide?
Hook
Verse 2
Visualise Esther livin as a Queen
In a luxury palace, every girl's dream
But Esther knows that nothing's what it seems
And what seems so real can come apart at the seams
-
So when opportunity came a-knocking one day
Did-she-try-to-evade? Did-she-try-to-escape?
Or-did-she-risk her life for the saving
Her brethren from the evil plot to dead them?
-
Cos Mordechai asked her the question
Don't-you-see-we-alllll exist in connection
There's no escaping this interdependence
Every single one of us needs the redemption
-
And you might be a queen or a king or a jester
But one of these days you'll be tested like Esther
So what you gonna do when the going gets hard
Will you act like yourself, or will you wear, a mask?
Hook
Verse 3
You know the deepest truth is counter-intuitive
On Purim wearing a mask is removing the
Mask that we usually wear as we go thru our lives
You know we all wear a disguise
-
We all play a role when it suits us fine
But none of us like to be played tho, right?
See I mentioned the fact of our inter-connection
How like it or not we're interdependent
-
So your neighbour is more than a boss or a client
Or somebody selling what you wanna buy
Purim teaches that true celebration
Comes from repairing our fragmentation
-
Sharing our gifts whilst wearing a costume
Giving allows us to be who we want to be
I know that you're just like me
We need each other to be, complete
Hook x 2
credits
released March 16, 2010
Beat and Clarinet by Sephirot