Friday Music: Why We Build the Wall (Anais Mitchell)

Anais Mitchell is a quirky singer/songwriter who I saw in concert with Sara Watkins and Patty Griffin last week. I had not heard her before, but it turns out that some years ago she wrote a folk opera called Hadestown, which is based on the story of Orpheus. She sang this song, Why We Build the Wall, during the concert and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

There are a number of good videos of her singing this piece, some with harmonies (which is how I heard it at the concert), but this one captures both Mitchell's personality and you can clearly hear the words of the song. It may be a conversation between Hades and Cerberus, but it has a much broader application.

Food for thought for this Friday in the Third Week in Lent.