I try to get into the head of the participants to understand what I'm feeling. That's where "Democracy at the Point of a Gun" comes from. I imagined these secular kids who've been heavily influenced by Western music and what they thought of nations that created their heroes coming to drop bombs on them. The kids I imagined were probably more influenced by Morrissey than Britney, but you know there is a diversity out there....

I even tried to get into the head of Jerry Boykin. Really, though, this was more in the performance than the words. The words are nearly all quotes from Boykin or GWBush, or at least my paraphrasing them as I imagine someone could interpret them out of (or in) context. (I recently had a discussion with a friend who called Bush and his cronies "evil" and I don't think even in that context it's useful to use words of religious connotation. From my own Christian indoctrination I've never lost the belief that everyone can be forgiven, saved, or whatever terminology you may use. And only God can judge that. Which is why I oppose the death penalty in all circumstances, and have a real tough time with the issue of "just wars"...another idea that is religious in its overtone. But this is another discussion...)

"Sand, No Ocean" is a piece of reportage where I read the story of a young man killed on Halloween last year in Fallujah. He was a moral leader of the troops, making surf from sand to bring his guys back to thoughts of their Southern California homes.

"Children" is from the APFH disc and was my first reaction to September 11, written that afternoon. I just can't see how the eye for an eye will ever really work in bringing about a real peace. And what amazed me so much was that our response to terrorism was a campaign that began with "shock and awe." What is the purpose of shock and awe other than to terrorize? Just another strange choice in the (semantic) world of GWBush.