Israeli Singer Agrees To Pull Song About Suicide After Affected Families Complain
After the recent deaths of both Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, the world took to Instagram to post information about the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Other celebrities, like Ellen Degeneres, told the world via Twitter to help those who are struggling with depression.
The mood as these tragedies unfolded in America must have traversed to Israel, because one famous pop singer was asked by families affected by suicide to remove her song lyrics relating to this devastation. Yardena Arazi, who grew up in Haifa, is known for writing inspirational music about the land of Israel, but listeners requested that her newest song about love, “If He Goes”, be pulled from radio stations. “The words to the song, written by Aya Korem, discuss what the singer would do if her lover should leave her”, says The Jewish Post.
“If he goes – I will die/ I’ll jump from the balcony/ Or respond with violence/ I’ll stick my finger in an outlet/ And cut off all the rest.”
“Other verses suggest jumping in front of a train or bringing a toaster into the shower as potential methods, because “love is not a joking matter,” The Jewish Post adds.
The song is reminiscent of a Sylvia Plath poem, and listeners found it distasteful.
“What people don’t understand is that when a song like this is heard by young people who are at a crisis point… someone could, God forbid, say: ‘Well it’s not that bad, there’s even a song about it,” said Dr. Avshalom Aderet, chairman of the Path to Life NGO, who lost his son to suicide 20 years ago.
Anzari didn’t argue, and immediately asked radio stations to pull the song even though it was already released. “Their words touched my heart and I could not ignore what they were saying. I stand by this decision and hope that you honor it,” she wrote.
Bonnie is an intern at the Forward.
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