Nothing But A Lie in the News

A Lament for our Fallen in Iraq

MARTINI SHOT
By: JULIE MYNATT

NOTHING BUT A LIE. Voice actress Mona Abboud was home sick at the end of January reading the obituaries in her local paper of some of the young men and women who have died in the Iraq War. Abboud was struck by a melody, and went to her piano to play what became "Nothing But a Lie," a mournful, folk-inflected song which is both tribute to the soldiers at war and a call to action for peace.

"I have been upset about this war since the bombs had dropped. Into my head this song came in its entirety," says Abboud, her usually chipper voice trembling with emotion. "It came all at once word for word, with the music, like it was channeled through me."

Abboud tested out the song, singing it to people she trusts, including director Robert Altman, who cast her in his film "A Wedding." "I sang this thing for him, and at the end he said Mona, that¹s terrific,¹" says Abboud. "I thought this thing was sent to me, I cannot drop it. I cannot abandon it. So I knew I had to make a demo."

Abboud read an article in the Chicago Tribune which mentioned Louise Dimiceli-Mitran, a vocalist who owns commercial music company Mitran Mitran Music with her husband, composer Andy Mitran. Abboud had worked on spots with Mitran Mitran and gave Andy a call.

"Louise had performed at an event that highlighted music for social change and was quoted [in the Chicago Tribune article]," says Andy Mitran. "Mona called and asked Louise if she would be interested in singing this song."

After Abboud told Andy Mitran about the project, he signed on to record the demo and eventually recorded a version for release through Laughing Cat Records, the label owned by Al Jewer, a Mitran Mitran composer who plays flute on the track. A version sung by Dimiceli-Mitran and another version sung by Gerry Dignan are available for download.

Ultimately, Abboud hopes that the song will be picked up by radio. She has submitted it to Air America Radio and even has hopes that Willie Nelson would record a version of it Abboud says that it was his voice she originally heard singing the tune. "[This song] laments the lost lives [of the soldiers] in Iraq," says Abboud. "It is a soulful plea for guidance to end the conflict in Iraq." //www.nothingbutalie.com

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Reprinted with permission from the August 23, 2004 issue of Screen Magazine (www.screenmag.com).