WAR STORIES
As The Sin And The Sentence’s chief lyricist, Paolo talks us through some of the books that shaped the songs
SO YOU’VE BEEN PUBLICLY SHAMED (JON RONSON) INFLUENCED: The Sin And The Sentence
“It’s this whole thing of a dude following people that got called out online for whatever, and everyone just piles on. over a year he went back and interviewed them about how incredibly their lives had changed. They lost jobs, couldn’t get jobs, were pariahs, and sometimes it was just because of a really bad tweet. And
I kept thinking, ‘Does this punishment really fit the crime of what they’ve done?’ At the same time, I was reading a lot about witchcraft and the witch hunts, and thinking how it was a very similar situation.”
TRIBE: ON HOMECOMING AND BELONGING (SEBASTIAN JUNGER)
INFLUENCED: endless night
“The whole purpose of this Sebastian Junger book was him talking about his experiences covering wars, and how people in awful situations tend to look back fondly on them, because of the camaraderie.
When people talk about depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, it feels like it’s hard to wrap my head around it. This guy describes it as being unable to detach the really good parts of those experiences from the really bad parts.
He talks about how native American tribes are so egalitarian and worked together. When people come home, it’s very isolating, and the way to escape it is to come together as a community.”
THE BEAUTY AND THE SORROW PETER ENGLUND
INFLUENCED: Beauty in The Sorrow
“I read this book two or three years ago. It was about World War I, through the personal lives of people involved, and a lot of the stories were built through their letters.
After I listened to a podcast called Hardcore History by Dan carlin, it reminded me of this book. It got me thinking about the way people experience the war, how in the beginning people are very triumphant and patriotic, going into this grand thing – this great adventure – and by the end it’s very sad.
I changed the songtitle to Beauty In The Sorrow, because I wanted it to represent trying to find meaning in a senseless thing.”