English version
“Truth is the first casualty of war“was the phrase which inspired me to write “The First Blood of War”. I’m not sure who coined it; it has been attributed at least to ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus and U.S. senator Hiram Johnson. However, it doesn’t matter who said it first; it matters that it’s a brilliant realisation! War is also about the right to define truth. All parties try to justify their cause by propaganda, to make it true. Even at this very moment we are at war, although we don’t necessarily use any traditional weaponry. We now use different social media platforms, and techniques which allow us to alter text, sound, and both moving and still picture as we like. Of course, there also are other aspects of life where the manipulation of truth takes place. Some want to portray their atrocities as an ‘act of love ’ (e.g. religious cults); some want to shift the blame and play the innocent victim, etc. It’s still always about the conflict of truth. This is why It would be good for us to be able to see beyond the presented truth, and see the possible motives that guide the author of this ‘information performance’ and only then decide whether to believe or not. It’s difficult, though, because the vision is becoming more and more blurred. However, teaching media literacy is one good way to make people more aware of the nature of truth available to them; is it information or disinformation?
I wrote the first version of the song in the beginning of 2000’s. Most of the social media didn’t exist back then. But social media are basically just a (post)modern version of gossip and rumours. They, too, have some crumbles of truth in them: the crumbles which fit the narrative. For this new version on the album, I altered the lyrics a bit, and the band rearranged the song a bit. But the message stays the same: truth is the first casualty of war.
Hewey – Fragile Dream