When asked, on twitter in early 2023, about the meaning of the song, Shidell responded:
"Circa '94 I heard a story about a Bosnian Muslim family in Sarajevo during the siege, humans trying to stay maintain their humanity while during a genocide. One daughter was determined to carry on with her flute lessons. She was the spark.
Onto meaning, which is more complicated. Again, I prefer to let songs lead their own lives. But it was written such a long time ago. It feels now almost like someone else's song. In a way, it is. That puts me in a similar position to any other listener.
Hearing it now I think of Russia's genocidal invasion of Ukraine, and the word "nowhere" as referring to the strategy of severing a people's identification with, connection to, presence in and memory of a place.
But why "nowhere"? Isn't that what the aggressor seeks, to make a nowhere of one people's place in order to make it a somewhere for others? The choice of "nowhere" is a risky one. But I interpret it as an affirmation of the girl's (a people’s) subjective agency.
Yes, her place is a real place, and it is hers. But it's also history, memory, society, kinship, language, and culture. It lives as long as she and they keep practicing."
When asked, on twitter in early 2023, about the meaning of the song, Shidell responded:
"Circa '94 I heard a story about a Bosnian Muslim family in Sarajevo during the siege, humans trying to stay maintain their humanity while during a genocide. One daughter was determined to carry on with her flute lessons. She was the spark.
Onto meaning, which is more complicated. Again, I prefer to let songs lead their own lives. But it was written such a long time ago. It feels now almost like someone else's song. In a way, it is. That puts me in a similar position to any other listener.
Hearing it now I think of Russia's genocidal invasion of Ukraine, and the word "nowhere" as referring to the strategy of severing a people's identification with, connection to, presence in and memory of a place.
But why "nowhere"? Isn't that what the aggressor seeks, to make a nowhere of one people's place in order to make it a somewhere for others? The choice of "nowhere" is a risky one. But I interpret it as an affirmation of the girl's (a people’s) subjective agency.
Yes, her place is a real place, and it is hers. But it's also history, memory, society, kinship, language, and culture. It lives as long as she and they keep practicing."