Mỹ Lai to Rafah

Annotation — My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs

“My Lai to Rafah” also cover of Trinh Cong Son’s anti-war song “Xin Cho Tôi”. From interview in Punk News " My parents were refugees from the Vietnam War, aka the American War. Out of all the ongoing atrocities caused by the US foreign policy of my lifetime, Palestine feels the most personal, and I wanted to explore why - why have my intergenerational wounds been feeling that much more acute ever since October 7th? Aside from the fact that this latest round has been the most public, the most blatant acts of unapologetic genocide, aside from the fact that as a mother it should not be mere privilege to witness my kids grow while their peers across the globe live under such horrific violence. This song taps into sacred rage, an indictment of the Eurocentric cultural norms, the resource-grabbing, manifest destiny BS that allows for this violence. Musically, it revolves around my interpretation of the nawari rhythm, which I was introduced to when studying Dabke, a traditional dance popular in the Levant region, including Palestine. Watching people dabke collectively, in community, and in this geopolitical context, is incredibly life-affirming to witness.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: That night I dreamt of a violent sky / Of our ancestors’ grieving faces / In a cloud of smoke and debris / Helplessly watching their babies bleed / Their bones dry beneath my feet / My cries carried by a cinnamon haze / Their bones embraced by the earth and we’re one, so we move / Oh the moon was our witness /Oh ooh the moon our star witness / You trying to fight me in my own jungle? / It’s not a maze in your sweet little pumpkin patch / So you Set fire to fields you’re too weak to work / Bomb mountains you’re just too weak to climb / Set fire to fields you’re too weak to work / To the stone age, back to the stone age? / Fuck your empire, fuck your weapons / Fuck your uninspired prayers / Fuck your family, cuz where’s my family, my whole family, family, family… / Oooh, the moon, is she your witness? / Oh the moon’s our star witness / Oh who gave you the right? / Oh the moon bless our sacred revenge / Fuck your money, fuck your currency / Fuck your agents named after the rainbow / Fuck your technology, your “innovations” / Fuck your Roman script, we have our own / Fuck your canonical works of whatever / Fuck your canonical works of whatever / Fuck your canonical works of whatever / Whatever whatever, whatever, whatever, ever ever ever / But From Mỹ Lai to Rafah, / We live and love harder than you’ll ever know / From Sand Creek to Rafah / We live and love harder than you’ll ever know / Batangas to Rafah / We live and love harder than you’ll ever know / Port Âu Prince…

Notes

Bui's track-by-track (Punknews) links her parents' refugee experience to Rafah; built on a nawari rhythm learned from dabke. The album's cover of Trịnh Công Sơn's "Xin Cho Tôi" is a separate track. Digital June 2025; vinyl January 2026. Exotic Fever Records, P.O. Box 297, College Park, Maryland. [From the Rate Your Music label page]

About the artist

Project of the Vietnamese-American multidisciplinary artist Carol Bui, daughter of refugees from the war, a dancer (raqs sharqi, dabke) who first released "Red Ship" under her own name in 2011 (Ex Oh) and re-recorded and expanded it as Star Matriarch in 2025 for Exotic Fever; performs with Pax Allen (drums) and Cameron Arneson (bass). [Source: Punknews; Discogs; AnalogueTrash]

Themes

My Lai · My Lai Analogy · Palestine · Anti-Imperialism · Refugees · Civilian Casualties · Agent Orange

In collections

My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · Vietnam as Comparison · Vietnamese Refugees & Boat People · Punk Songs