Hush Yael

Album: Children Of Fire (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • This track tells the tragic story of the Haran family from Nahariya, Israel. It was uploaded to Oh, Sleeper's Facebook page on the August 23, 2011. Guitarist Shane Blay explained the background to the song in an interview with Alternative Press magazine: "On April 22, 1979, this family was murdered in a terrorist attack led by Samir Kuntar, a former member of the Palestine Liberation Front. The only survivor of this attack was the mother, Smadar. While her husband and one of her daughters were being kidnapped and eventually murdered, Smadar hid with her two-year-old daughter Yael in a crawl space above a bedroom in their apartment. Yael was accidentally suffocated in an attempt to quiet her from crying out and revealing their hiding spot. So this song was born out of that tragedy. We decided that my singing would be the voice of the mother whispering to Yael in those last moments, and Micah [Kinard]'s voice would be the narrator of the tragic tale. Needless to say, this song is emotional and we were glad to be able to bring this story to our fans."

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