Call Them Brothers

"That's it, it's split, it won't recover. Just frame the halves and call them brothers" From the first line this song tells us that no matter how broken our society is, we are all brothers.

It was written by Regina Spektor and her husband Jack Dishel. The song is featured on his album "Searchlight" and an acoustic version is on her latest album "What We Saw From The Cheap Seats".

Regina was born in the Soviet Union and emigrated to the U.S. as a refugee with her family during the Perestroika, when she was only nine years old.

She has a need to tell stories, most of them are just fantasies or about strange things that inspire her, but I think that this one comes from a very special place in her heart, and she felt that she must put it into a song.

Her background is often evident in her songs and videos. Even though there are many interpretations to this one, I like to think that it's about war and the damage it causes, and that we're all still brothers. Another slightly different view is the one that says it's about the fall of Communism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, something very present in Regina's life. There are many references to that, however, the beauty of her songs (and songs in general) is that we can make them our own.

In the video, we see clips of her and Jack in Russian hats, fooling around among images of Russia and soldiers in line. I believe this represents who they are now, with their baggage showing in their clothing versus how things used to be. How even though the past seemed broken and split, something good still persists and they can be happy anyway.