soon after the death of my classmate ayşenur, the world started making comparisions between her martyrdom and that of rachel corrie, another young woman from washington state, killed in west asia while putting her body on the line against the war machine. when the tide rises in my life, i look to music to make any sense of it, but when ayşenur died, no music i knew encapsulated the shock, confusion, and hurt i felt and saw around me. so, in those initial days, before many people had published songs about ayşenur*, i looked for songs written about rachel corrie. this was the first one i found. listening to it was also the first time, after ayşenur's death, that i cried.

i recorded this track's vocals and vocoder chords simultaneously, using a custom live performance stack that i built for my larger thesis project.

* though, since then, many such songs have surfaced. and more will.

covering "the death of rachel corrie" by david rovics

samples used:
Garcia-Navarro, Lulu; 5770 (2010). US Activist's Death Pits Parents Against Israel. Morning Edition, National Public Radio.
Kenyon, Peter; 5771 (2010). As World Focuses On Gaza, Grim Lives Go On. All Things Considered, National Public Radio.
Arraf, Jane; 5785 (2024). 21 years after her death in Gaza, Palestinians remember U.S. activist Rachel Corrie. National Public Radio.o