Why are you hurt one and not me?
It’s just a drunkard’s trick of geography
If I could switch our places around
Spin that spinning top around
I’d be the hurt one, be the hurt one
For sure.

Fear of War, The Rest

———

When I perform this song, I always feel the question in the lines above. Life is sacred and when innocent people are slain it’s a tragedy.

It’s hard to believe that ‘Fear of War’ from ‘The Rest’, one of the most sombre songs I’ve written, started as a sort of alt country piece on an acoustic guitar which dwelt mostly in major chords. Listening back to early demos from 2018, I can hear when I decided to start the track with the ominous opening sequence, like something reminiscent of ‘The Killing Fields’.

Stay special, unique and human,

Pearse