When I first listened to the recording of the depopulated village in Jerusalem, what really stood out was the bird song sounding like a voice of hope. I decided to use this as my focus as it was in keeping with the Echoes For Palestine Project theme ’hope, healing and a reimagined future’.

I wrote the lyrics from the point of view of the village itself longing for inhabitants to return. The village grieved because of the silence and death, hoping that the homesick people would come back and live there once more. Ultimately, everyone needs a purpose and the village’s purpose was to be a home once again.

‘Diamond I Am’ considers these ideas, focussing on a village full of its people as somewhere beautiful; a diamond. It also recognises the need for people to be honest and talk about the plight of Palestine in order that it may heal.

Jerusalem depopulated village recorded by Anders Vinjar, reimagined by Simon Holmes. 

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