Lily Amis – “Blood is always red!” ft. Thir13een an anti-war and anti-discrimination anthem

The minute, the single, “Blood is always red!” kicks in, no instrument outshines any other, with the net result being a harmonious, balance of enticing of electro-rhythm and hip-hop edginess. The vocals are clear against the delicious cocktail of musical ingredients bouncing around it. The beat just can’t help itself from transporting you towards appealing sun-kissed coastlines, exotic islands and some desired dancefloor magic. British R&B/Soul singer, songwriter, and producer, Thir13een, wraps the sonic template in multiple layers of groove, melody and rhythm.

Lily Amis

Once your senses are allowed to distract attention from the all-round sonic goodness of “Blood is always red!”, and your consciousness locks in on the lyrics by Lily Amis, the song suddenly takes on a whole new meaning, without losing its sonic allure. “I look around me and all I see is misery. Why haven’t we learned anything from history? Our world is falling apart. Human crises! Refugee crises! Climate crises! Pandemic crises! What happened to compassion, love, and kindness?” asks Amis in the opening lines.

“A little taste of sweetness and understanding, an act of selfless love and forgiveness. That’s all we need to end this global madness! Violence, conflicts, and sponsored wars have never been a solution. Think twice, anything else is an illusion, a delusion, nothing but confusion,” continues the narrative, before hitting squarely on the chorus: “Chocolate matters! Caramel matters! Vanilla matters! All flavors matter. Remember, blood is always red, regardless of birthplace, nationality, and human race. It’s time to end global discrimination and hate!”

It is not hard to relate to what’s been on Lily Amis’ mind. It’s just a surprise to note how she always anticipates events with her insight into troubling times, and human suffering in general.

Similarly to her single “80 Million People!” which was officially released two days before the war outbreak in Ukraine, “Blood is always red!” was written and recorded a week before the same disastrous event. Both songs are meant to bring awareness about her online petition #HumanityB4Nationality for better rights for refugees at www.openpetition.eu/Hb4N.

Lily Amis is an Iranian born Children and YA writer, Blogger, Lyricist, and Voice4refugees. Forced to witness the horrors of war, she became a refugee at 10 years old and had to flee her home country of Iran. Therefore, she more than most, understands the atrocities humans are able to perpetrate on their own species.

The history books are filled with such nefariousness, and so is Lily Amis’ life experiences. Hence, she is able to write with authenticity, as well as both hindsight and foresight, affronting the anti-war and anti-discrimination themes of “Blood is always red!”

It’s almost needless to say, that the multiple skills of Thir13een adapt themselves effortlessly to Lily Amis’ lyricism. He did so with enormous success on “80 Million People!”, and replicates that result on “Blood is always red!”

Both tracks instantly feel like the most apt records for our time, in a manner that’s direct and honest. The latter track is even more expansive, performance-wise, as Thir13een raps and sings with equal dexterity.

Thir13een experiments with rhythm, tempo and pitch throughout the record, scaling down and layering up the vocals and beat. All the while, Lily Amis’ lyric sheet delivers the harsh realities we have to face and conquer, if we desire a better, more just world.

“Blood is always red!” is not only an anti-war song, but also a song about unity and equality. I have experienced discrimination firsthand, mainly because of my country of birth (nationality) and religion. I have been reduced to a piece of paper for decades. First as an asylum seeker, later as a rejected refugee, and then of course as a foreigner. It is a non-ending battle against racism, discrimination, bullying and rejection. You have to prove yourself constantly, and you don’t realize how fast time flies and how much you miss on opportunities in life because of narrow-minded and condescending people. That’s why I ask in my song: “Why can’t we accept people the way they are, why do we have to make it so hard? People should be given the right to liberty, to live a happy life in dignity!” – Lily Amis