Ezra Furman’s new song is inspired by her experience ‘as a Jew and as a trans woman’
(JTA) — Ezra Furman’s latest song title, “Book Of Our Names,” might sound familiar — that’s because the indie rocker’s newest song is inspired by the Hebrew title for the Bible’s Book of Exodus.
Furman said the track, released Monday, is “a protest song intended for use by any movement for collective survival and freedom.” In a statement, she said she sings it “as a Jew and as a trans woman.”
“This song is about what it feels like to live together under an empire that doesn’t value your lives,” said Furman, who revealed last year that she had become a mother and a rabbinical student.
In the verses, Furman sings, “I want there to be a book of our names. … I want it to tell of our exile here / In a cruel machinery, our bodies between the gears / And our world back home just the ghost of a prayer / And I want us to read it aloud.”
Furman, 35, has released five full well received solo rock albums while observing Shabbat and has written previous songs with Jewish themes and references. In 2016 — before coming out as trans — she released a song titled “The Refugee,” about her Jewish grandfather who fled the Nazis.
After releasing her latest album in 2019, Furman contributed music to the Netflix hit series “Sex Education.”
Read her full interview with JTA from last year here.
—
The post Ezra Furman’s new song is inspired by her experience ‘as a Jew and as a trans woman’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30