We wrote this song with Basil from Syria. He shared this story about a nine year old girl who was killed by bombs. I was never certain if this young girl, Rose, was related to Basil in some way or a friend or that he was recounting the story to share the horrors of life in Syria. Regardless, the story was haunting, and I was honored he shared it with us. We did our best to create a beautiful song to honor this child who lost her life.

The lyrics are a combination of English, Arabic, and Dari. The line “Baza, baza” at the end was shared by another resident. It is Dari for “Come back, come back.”

To read more about the writing of this song, visit Guiding Song: Remember Rose

This is a video I created with a montage of photos set to the recording I made of us singing the song on the day we wrote it at the asylum center: