Mileva recommends: “For the Innocent” by Villagers of Ioannina City

It’s another one of those nights I’m flabbergasted at reality. It gets tiring, falling from the clouds all the time, that’s one of my favorite lines lately, because it happens more and more often. Two are reported dead following a fire in a camp for refugees, which is actually a concentration camp in disguise. The word ‘disguise’ is controversial, as one can obviously see it as it is, except if talented in turning a blind eye to reality.

It’s been my dad’s nameday today and we’ve spent the day celebrating. I introduced my family to this song, since it’s a new one and I found out about it recently. My dad is only into folk music. Our tastes in music have always been different. So that was a compromise. Villagers of Ioannina City, or VIC, are a folk rock band I ran into some years ago at a festival. I never expected to like regional music from Epirus, yet they made it sound appealing. Despite the English verse, my dad enjoyed it. We enjoyed ourselves, while refugees got burnt, just because they were unfortunate enough to be born on a different corner of the planet. Police responded with tear gas.

I watched the news when I got home. I listened to the song again and again, until anger overwhelmed me.

“We will stand against all wrongWith all the strength we’ve gotAnd if we stand together as oneWe will overcome.”

Anger is essential in cases like this. Anger is a weapon against despair. If you don’t lose your mind over this, you clearly don’t have a mind at all.

And anger shared is power. What this song delivers, along with anger, is hope. Hope that one day, we will be strong enough to make the world a better place for all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSPu27VaeF0(Song recommendation by Mil Ana)