A troop of Ukranian soldiers visit GemsOnVHS.

Sasha Boole reached out to me online. It was one of those very random connections, which i’m always keen to engage with. They were a troop of performing Ukrainian artists, a military brigade devoted to performing music for the troops in their country, now on a mission to play for the Americans who support them. He invited me to a show at a random bar near Centennial park in Nashville, where the troop was performing. I arrived not knowing what the fuck to expect, and they didn’t disappoint.

American veterans and their wives filled up the little bar as the audience, and a dozen of the most diverse Ukrainian musicians ran around getting ready for their turn to play. Some walked with a limp, some were missing a part of themselves, some old some young, men and women. They were from all walks of life; singer songwriters like Sasha, classically trained orchestra musicians, folk instrumentalists, opera singers and more. All of these people had been musicians first, and only became soldiers when their life was disrupted by the invading Russian forces. Now, nearly everyone in Ukraine is a soldier first, and whatever they used to be second. These few had been injured or lucky enough to continue performing, for the moment at least.

It was definitely an eye opening. War is hell. We are all one full-scale invasion from becoming conscripts in a war we had nothing to do with, at the end of the day. But life goes on, and every soldier has to continue being who they were before the war. Music plays a special part in that, I believe, in healing people who are injured beyond the physical. In translating the complex human experience into something that can help us carry on. To spread messages others seek to quash.

So for that, it’s hats off to this Ukranian troop, traveling the world trying to keep spirits high. I can’t personally imagine having every institution around me destroyed by an invading force, my life turned upside down. They can.

Song 2 Lyrics:

Intro:
The midwife smiled at Mom:
“Ma’am, you’ve given birth to a son!
A predator’s gaze, his ass dressed in multicam
Clearly born for war!”

Verse 1:
I didn’t ask to join the TRO Monaco *,
God spared me from the Bukovel cauldron *.
Even as a child, had a prophetic dream:
A dirty infantry awaits me.

Chorus 1:
And I wanted to hold the economic front,
But life doesn’t always go according to plan.
So while the dog Patron holds the neighborhood,
Me and the boys are holding the treeline.
Me and the boys are holding the treeline.

Verse 2:
And now I’m driving down a dusty road,
My right-hand-drive truck has started smoking again.
Exhausted, I stop under the willows,
Just hoping the Moskals don’t hit me with an ATGM!

Chorus 1 repeats.

Bridge:
They didn’t invite us into the economic forces,
For some it’s donations, for others it’s shovels.
While some were hiding and smoking hookah,
Someone had to go and fight.

Chorus 2:
And I could’ve held the economic front,
But life doesn’t always go according to plan.
So while the dog Patron holds the neighborhood,
Me and the boys are holding the treeline.

* “TRO Monaco” a portrait-meme about wealthy Ukrainian men who avoided the war and ended up abroad, particularly in wealthy places such as Monaco. “TRO” means a Teritorial Defence

* Bukovel – is a ski resort in Ukraine.

More of Sasha’s tunes here;
linktr.ee/sashaboole

The second artist is @luu.rut on instagram.

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0:00 intro. terminator
1:00 sasha’s first song
4:05 interview, cultural forces, war
6:25 song 2 with sasha
9:46 song 3
13:26 interview, playing for the frontlines

Written by GemsOnVHS