I AM A JEW
I am a jew - Yolkhead
intricate math dance-pop post-anti-indietronica, midwest emo cassette
v3
23 March 2024
drinking my coffee before the day starts
officially ;
what is striking about politics is that my classmates told me Salvador Dali's pictures are intensely gay.
officially, that is.
and what does npr have to do with it?
politically, nothing. but yes
we are of course political,
so what about the bees and the pollen that cover our pristine German made luxury vehicles?
I mean it sarcastically, but also emphatically as in
The Aims of the Zionist Occupiers is to pollute our glittering carapace.
officially, no. we don't kill nobody.
probably some kind of tax or rate hike.
, probably,
or officially humorous anyway. that they think Dali is a Jew just because he supported Hitler.
or was it his use of shading?
the Dow is down this morning anyway so I am under suspicion of collusion.
Officially, no, I am not persecuted anymore. Emphatically as in,
No, I Am Not Persecuted Anymore.
but also sarcastically, as in
I am sorry, for Dali's shadows
and for bugging the pollen
like tiny Marxist spies, burrowed
in the woodwork of my porch
officially, no. we don't kill nobody.
probably some kind of tax or rate hike.
, probably,
or officially humorous anyway.
it's just a joke, it's just a joke they say
that Dali's jewishness was what made all his artwork gay
the irony being that Dali wasn't even jewish but
the Dow is down this morning anyway so I am under suspicion of collusion.
Officially, no, I am not persecuted anymore. Emphatically as in,
No, I Am Not Persecuted Anymore.
but also sarcastically, as in
I am sorry, for Dali's shadows
and for bugging the pollen
like tiny Marxist spies, burrowed
in the woodwork of your porch
I am sorry, for Dali's shadows
and for owning the pollen
like capitalist caricature
selling you the woodwork of your porch
you just hate zios, and that's OK
officially, says the professors, and the NPR non-P.R. machine
as if the ven diagram
of zionists to
choking ash
isnt a two thousand year hydrologic cycle
of human evaporation
I am a jew
said Daniel Pearl
who the fuck are you
I am a jew
my father is a jew
my mother is a jew
my name is Daniel Pearl
who the fuck are youThis song, “I am a jew” by Yxxxxxxd, is a complex and somewhat abstract exploration of Jewish identity, anti-Semitism, and the intersection of art, politics and perception.
The narrator begins by mentioning a seemingly mundane morning routine of drinking coffee but quickly delves into a stream-of-consciousness reflection on various topics. They sarcastically allude to their classmates’ perception that Salvador Dali’s art is “intensely gay” because he supported Hitler, despite Dali not being Jewish himself.
According to Ian Gibson in his book “The Shameful Life of Salvador Dali” both Dali and his wife had mothers of Jewish heritage, though the evidence is anecdotal. Dali also had a soft spot for Israel. In 1967 the Spanish artist created 25 pieces entitled, “Aliyah, the Rebirth of Israel.”
This highlights the absurdity and ignorance of conflating an artist’s personal politics with their identity and the interpretation of their work.
The song also touches on the narrator’s sense of being unfairly scrutinised and suspected of wrongdoing, with references to the Dow Jones being down and therefore putting them “under suspicion of collusion.” They emphatically state
“No, I Am Not Persecuted Anymore”
while simultaneously undercutting this assertion with sarcasm, suggesting an ongoing sense of victimisation and otherness.
The lyrics critique the notion that it’s acceptable to
“just hate zios” (Zionists),
Zio is a pejorative term for Zionists, commonly used by anti-Zionists. The term is often considered antisemitic, particularly by Zionists.
drawing a parallel between this sentiment and the ash of the Holocaust and centuries of Jewish persecution. The final lines powerfully invoke the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl by terrorists, with his repeated insistence, “I am a jew”, underscoring the song’s themes of Jewish identity and the perils of anti-Semitism.
Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 — February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for The Wall Street Journal. On January 23, 2002, he was kidnapped near a restaurant in downtown Karachi and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan.
Pearl’s kidnapping was carried out by Islamist militants after Pearl had gone to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links between British citizen Richard Reid (known as the “Shoe Bomber”) and al-Qaeda. Pearl was beheaded by his captors, who later released a video of his murder.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British national of Pakistani origin, was sentenced to death by hanging for Pearl’s abduction and murder in July 2002,[1] but his conviction was overturned by a Pakistani court in 2020.
Overall, the song grapples with complex issues of identity, prejudice, and the ways in which art and politics intersect and are misconstrued. Through a mix of sarcasm, emphasis, and historical allusion, it highlights the ongoing challenges and threats faced by Jewish people, while also critiquing the ignorance and hypocrisy of anti-Semitic attitudes.
The song does seem to deliberately conflate Zionism with Jewishness at certain points, though it does so in a way that highlights the problematic nature of this conflation.
For instance, the line
“you just hate zios, and that’s OK officially, says the professors, and the NPR non-P.R. machine”
suggests a critique of the way in which anti-Zionist sentiment can sometimes cross the line into anti-Semitism, with the implication that hating Zionists is seen as acceptable in certain intellectual and media circles.
The following line,
“as if the ven diagram of zionists to choking ash isnt a two thousand year hydrologic cycle of human evaporation,”
powerfully evokes the long history of persecution against Jews, culminating in the Holocaust. By juxtaposing this with the previous line about
“hating zios,”
the song, it seems to be drawing a connection between anti-Zionism and the broader history of anti-Semitism.
However, it’s important to note that the song is not necessarily endorsing this conflation, but rather highlighting and critiquing the ways in which Zionism and Jewishness are often problematically equated, both by anti-Semites and by those who defend Zionism by accusing its critics of anti-Semitism.
The ending lines, focusing on Daniel Pearl’s assertion of his Jewish identity in the face of his captors, further underscores the song’s meditation on Jewish identity and the ongoing threats of anti-Semitic violence, separate from the specific question of Zionism.
From my non-Jewish point of view, Zionism is racism, and it is unhelpful to label it as anti-semitism. Most Orthodox Jews don’t accept the state of Israel as legitimate, so does that make them anti-Semitic?
