Mightier Than the Sword

This is a song of comfort. As Burhenn herself says, it's addressed to the suicidal, and the lyrics suggest to me that Burhenn's likely speaking to the teens who in the past several years have very publicly been taking their own lives. ("It's hard enough in your bedroom calm/To fend off the hungry birds of prey/And it's a fresh assault when the news comes on/Another one gone today/You study the lines in his face/He looked just like you/Your story's the same") Especially, perhaps, gay teens, as the line "Love who you love/No matter what/No matter how hard it may come" implies.

Coming from a background dealing with these issues myself, this song deeply resonates with me and I am profoundly grateful to Burhenn for writing it. If there had been something like this to play when I was a gay teen in the 90s, it would have given me a lot more hope and peace---indeed, the whole outlook of this album would. Burhenn's work is beautiful and this song is no exception.

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In Burhenn's own words, from Interview magazine:

"Two years ago, one of my friends committed suicide. I was thinking about, if I could talk to someone, what could I possibly say to them what hasn't been said? How do you tell someone in a new way, 'Don't kill yourself, it's going to get better?' I think we all say, 'Hang on, it's going to get better.' And, ultimately, I don't know what you say. My mom's mother committed suicide, my dad's brother committed suicide. And I never really knew either of them, but I grew up with an awareness of it. I was thinking, what can I give someone in writing this song? So I'm sending love. At the end of the song, the coda goes, 'If you forget the words, I will sing them for you.' I think that's the best thing we can do about for our friends. When you are down, when you are out, lean on me."

(http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/the-mynabirds-generals)