Exile & the “Chad Gadya” Fail Chain: 8in8′s “Because the Origami”

November 12, 2011 at 6:59 pm, by Jonah Rank

On April 25 2011, the final night of Passover 5771, the band 8in8 entered a Massachusetts recording studio with the intention of writing and recording 8 songs in 8 hours. In the end, this one-time, experimentally-organized band actually spent 12 hours instead and ended up with only 6 songs. (But, in my opinion, that ain’t too shabby either!)

I’ve lately been focusing on their song “Because the Origami” (with lyrics written mostly by Neil Gaiman and the rest of the song written by Ben Folds). Folds (who plays piano on the song) and Amanda Palmer sing the parts of the parents of Tommy, a boy who has left home. (BTW: Thanks to The Who‘s rock-opera Tommy, Tommy now is the catch-name of rock and roll’s prodigal sons).

When I listen to it, “Because the Origami” reminds me of the Passover song “Chad Gadya“ (“One Goat”). (Note: Gaiman is Jewish, but I doubt a Passover seder was attended by him, Folds, Palmer, or–the quietest 8in8 member–Damian Kulash of OK Go.)

“Because the Origami” and “Chad Gadya” tell the story of parental gifts going awry. Also, these aren’t simple stories about failure; they are tales about chains of failure.

At the end of “Chad Gadya,” we hear that God slaughters the Angel of Death, who butchered a butcher who slaughtered an ox who drank some water that extinguished a fire that burned up a stick that beat a dog that bit a cat that ate a goat given as a gift from a parent to a child.

In “Because the Origami,” Tommy’s parents remove their son from his failed attempts at Origami and consequently give him dancing lessons that bore him, a guitar that make his fingers sore, a pony that that breaks his leg, drums that annoy his neighbors, cooking lessons that result in him getting fat, and, finally, running shoes with which Tommy runs away.

But, no matter how silly these songs are, there’s much about them worth taking seriously.

“Chad Gadya” is often understood by rabbis as a metaphor for Jewish history and the torture Jews have endured from outside forces (one example: Greco-Romans conquering the Jews in ancient Palestine) and the Jews’ enemies fighting with other enemies of the Jews (similar example: Greco-Romans bringing Persian rule in ancient Palestine to a bloody end). In this reading, God is usually understood to be the song’s Parent who buys the goat for the child, and either the child or the goat represents Israel.

“Because the Origami” tells of parents loading their son with expensive or elaborate extra-curricular activities until he finally leaves. It might sound ridiculous to buy kids guitars because they lack Origami skills, or to give kids cooking lessons because they can’t drum quietly, but I grew up with kids who took music lessons, joined Model Congress, played sports, and did so much they enjoyed so little just to add a few things onto a college application.

Also, these songs are both stories of exile.

“Chad Gadya” is a late-Medieval/early-Modern addition to the Haggadah, and, for most of its history, this ditty has been sung by Jews in Exile on Passover, looking back at the days when the Israelites marched forth to Canaan. To sing “Chad Gadya” joyously is to celebrate Jewish survival and to rejoice in the fact that today we do not suffer the pains of the goat, the cat, the dog, the stick, the fire, the water, the ox, the butcher, or even the Angel of Death. “Chad Gadya” was once a song of relief that, in Exile, we are not subjected to the pressures of life in Canaan–even though we know that the heavenly Parent in the song, after having spent some good money for our sakes, might be disappointed now to see where we’ve ended up.

While “Chad Gadya” is sung by the child away from the Parent, “Because the Origami” is sung by the parents who long for their child’s return. “Because the Origami” depicts the parents’ anxiety, but doesn’t Tommy deserve some freedom? What if he doesn’t want dancing lessons or cooking lessons or any of the pressure that his parents give him–even if they don’t mean any harm?

At the end of “Because the Origami,” the parents make a final plea: “If you hear this, / Please: we love you, Tommy. / We won’t ask you anything. / We won’t be angry.”

But, how does it feel for us to be in exile? Is life better without the pressures of our original home? Do Jews find no enemies in exile, and do kids feel no pressure for extra-curriculars when they leave their parents?

Are we happy in exile, and do we hold no responsibility for a parent (or Parent) we leave behind?

Or… are these ideas just as silly as “Chad Gadya?”