A saxophone in Beirut, harmony in Kyiv: How music persists in the time of bombs

Indian Express

18-06-2025

As missiles lit up the distant sky, music spilled from a rooftop bar in Beirut. A saxophonist, Alain Otayek, stood atop the DJ console and played in full, unflinching glory.
On the ground, the impact was devastating. As Iran and Israel exchanged fire, over 220 people in Iran were killed, while Israel reported 24 civilian deaths.
The Lebanese musician's performance, now a viral video, has divided the Internet. Some have called it callous, but for Otayek, it was a moment of resilience. 'The world breaks, borders burn, and battles roar. But a melody rises. I play for no side but the human spirit. Because music, music always stays,' he said in an Instagram comment.
Meanwhile in Lebanonpic.twitter.com/mMr5GBwqZa
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) June 15, 2025
Scientists have long puzzled over the evolutionary roots of music — and why it endures. Naturalist Charles Darwin theorised that music and speech likely emerged from a common musical protolanguage, which early humans used to communicate emotions. Renowned neuroscientist Daniel Levitin believed that music was part of our biological makeup. Rhythm and beat, even sans lyrics, have the power to stir emotions, provoke thought and leave lasting imprints on the brain.
Music persists across cultures, geographies and generations — an anchor tethering humans to their souls. The human voice can transcend language, finding solace in rhythm to connect, celebrate, grieve, pray, or defy. In times of conflict, music can become a vessel for collective resistance, shared sorrow, and bearing witness.
Music as resistance
Music often finds a new identity in human despair. Ryan Coogler's recent vampire flick, Sinners, explores how a whole new genre, the Blues, emerged amid the violent oppression of African Americans in the 19th century. Black workers sang in the church and the fields in the rural southern states of America, giving voice to their hardships. These songs evolved into what is now called 'the Blues'.
A similar cultural resurgence is reshaping India's soundscape. 'Dalit pop' has gained significant momentum in recent years as a powerful response to India's long history of caste-based discrimination. Artists like Sumeet Samos, Arivu, and Harish Kamble have reclaimed Dalit identity through their music, challenging caste hierarchies and amplifying marginalised voices.
In fact, India has a rich history of protest music, from the pre-Independence calls of resistance, such as 'Vande Matram' and 'Ekla Chalo Re', to today's 'Hum Dekhenge' (Faiz Ahmed Faiz) and 'Azadi' (DIVINE). Popular tracks like 'Ma Rewa' (Indian Ocean) and 'The Warli Revolt' (Swadesi) have given voice to protest movements such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the Save Aarey protest. Young artists like Mahi Ghane continue the tradition with songs such as 'Jungle Cha Raja', which became all the rage on Instagram recently.
Music as propaganda
American music conductor Leon Botstein has written about the inherent paradox in the use of music in wartime. Marches and anthems can be used to instil both courage and conformity, he wrote in a 1991 New York Times piece. In Russia, for instance, the pro-Putin pop star Shaman has become an anthem machine for nationalist fervour. Alexei Navalny, who was a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and passed away in jail last year, once revealed that prisoners were forced to listen to Shaman's 'I am Russian' at 5 am every day. The singer-songwriter supports Russia's war against Ukraine and has created waves among the country's youth. In India, the growing popularity of 'Hindutva pop' reveals how easily music can be co-opted by ideologies that divide.
Historians have documented how Hitler instrumentalised the works of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven for Nazi propaganda, promoting the narrative of German superiority. Interestingly, though, Beethoven simultaneously became the voice of anti-Nazi resistance. And when the Allied emerged victorious over the Nazis, it was Beethoven's liberation opera, 'Fidelio', that was performed in Vienna.
This duality with the same notes inspiring liberation and oppression raises an uneasy question: can music truly unify when it is so easily weaponised?
Music that unites
Botstein attests to music's power to 'communicate over political differences'. 'Hearing music during wartime refers us to the condition of life we would most wish to see exist, a condition of freedom and peace in which the power of the imagination — in service of the experience of beauty — among all peoples can flourish,' he wrote.
In 2023, The Guardian interviewed multiple musicians across the war-torn Ukraine, who had decided to use their music as 'a weapon'. Oleksii Makarenko, the founder of Gasoline Radio, spoke of uniting the eastern provinces, heavily influenced by the Russians, with the rest of Ukraine through music. 'We are trying to find songs from these regions to show that they are historically Ukrainian territories,' he said.
In September 2024, a young Ukrainian singer, Diana Oganesyan, released a beautiful yet haunting video as she harmonised alongside the air raid sirens. As she walked down an empty street in Kyiv, her voice echoed, overpowering the shrill of the sirens. Bathed in the yellow glow of the street lamps, Diana's voice seemed almost angelic, dispelling the fear of violence.
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She captioned the video in Ukrainian, loosely translating to, 'to sing songs in the midst of trouble'. An Instagram user asked how she was so calm, and Diana replied, 'because I got used to (it)'.
Whether it's a saxophone in Beirut or a harmony in Kyiv, these small yet powerful acts of rebellion are a testament to how music can become an exponent of peace amid war. It's a reminder that sometimes resistance is simply an act of creating beauty in a world determined to erase it.
Sonal Gupta is a senior sub-editor on the news desk. She writes feature stories and explainers on a wide range of topics from art and culture to international affairs. She also curates the Morning Expresso, a daily briefing of top stories of the day, which won gold in the 'best newsletter' category at the WAN-IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023. She also edits our newly-launched pop culture section, Fresh Take.
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