In the run-up to his new album, Everlast is promoting his anti-war video for the track "Letters From the Garden of Stone," in which a soldier seems to be discussing his tour of duty from beyond the grave. It's unclear whether the solider is American or Iraqi, but as he notes in the song, "We all end up on the same side."
The video, filmed in Nashville and directed by Everlast's childhood friend Mazik (formerly of the band Blood of Abraham), focuses on the human cost of the war. There are shots of what appear to be a bloodied Iraqi child and an Iraqi man with his arms raised in surrender.
As with most protest songs, "Letters" doesn't get into questions of policy. But in a statement released today, Everlast -- whose Website displays his name in Arabic-style script -- said American troops are "not just fighting the good fight for the Red, White and Blue. They're fighting a mental and emotional battle every day, and as each day passes, they lose a little more faith, and a little more hope."