The video opens with Tomer Yosef rapping while looking at the camera. As he raps interesting visual effects occur on screen. The coolest of these is the animated tattoos that move and talk on Tomer’s body. Though the visuals are arresting, they’re not overtly political. So the first third of the song relies on Tomer’s lyrics to get his message across. He sings, “I could be the saint or I could be the crook/It’s through the eyes of the beholder.” Here Tomer plainly states that people shouldn’t be judged by appearances. Then, maybe, it’s possible his tattoos are a visual reference to these lines. As ubiquitous as tattoos are, they still carry a negative connotation.
The rest of the video contains heavier imagery starting with the cloaked Klan’s man and the noose. Tomer appears again, covered in dirt and moving backwards as he sings about the regression society has made in its racial politics. The chains and shackles that appear throughout the second half of the video match Tomer’s lyrics about the control of information and the lack of free thought.
Inspiration
With the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as tense as ever, Tomer Yosef had started to notice changes. There were more violent acts by desperate Palestinians bereft of hope. Additionally, people seemed to be reacting to him differently. They were mistaking him for an Arab or a Palestinian or (synonymous to some) a terrorist. Things came to a head when a mother pulled her daughter to “safety” after seeing Yosef on the street. The song was born out of frustration with racial profiling and with the never ending conflict in Israel. Watch Yomer talk about it here.
Background
Tomer Yosef is a member of the popular Israeli musical group Balkan Beat Box. On “Holy Water” Yosef teamed with fellow Balkan Beat Box member Tamir Muskat to produce the single. This is not Yosef’s first solo work. He has already released four albums of solo music.
