Contact:
Loolwa Khazzoom, Band Leader
‪(253) 466-4326‬
iraqisinpajamas@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Against the Backdrop of Scientific Studies Proving the Healing Power of Music, Seattle Band Releases Innovative Single about Healing from Cancer through Song

On March 1, Iraqis in Pajamas releases, “Cancer Is My Engine,” whose production is being funded by the Lloyd Symington Foundation, which supports people living with and healing from cancer.

Seattle, WA – When Iraqis in Pajamas front woman Loolwa Khazzoom was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, she rejected the conventional option of surgery – despite a doctor proclaiming that she would die without it. “You can’t think your way out of cancer,” he said, to which Loolwa replied, “You don’t know what I can do.” Immediately following the diagnosis, Loolwa dove into researching natural approaches to healing, and she radically altered her diet – immediately pulling everything out of her cupboards and going on an all-organic and vegan diet. Through these and subsequent diet/lifestyle changes, Loolwa cold-stopped the growth of the nodules, which remained stable for the next five years. It was only after Loolwa returned to her lost love of music, moved to Seattle, and started her band, however, that the nodules began shrinking. Her song, “Cancer Is My Engine,” combines an ancient Iraqi Jewish prayer with […]

You live in a
Drug-encrusted fantasy
About what you want to do
And who you want to be
Toking on pot
Hiding behind a shroud of smoke
That pushes you away from me
As you indulge in self-pity
Howling about abandonment
While you fail to be there for me
Postponing delaying
The ways you promised support repeatedly
Leaving me to navigate
These unfamiliar waters
On my own
As I put your needs before mine
And as you whine
About how you can’t depend on anyone
And as you steer toward reckless behavior
So that you can play out the past
Over and over again
Proving to yourself
To be unworthy of love
Because you are exactly
Who they claimed you to be

Meanwhile I see the power light beauty
Of your soul
And sand here ready waiting for you
To decide to take the plunge
And choose to use the tools resources
That will nurture and support who you are
Instead of numb out
The sharpness of your awareness
Which is the breathtaking attraction and vitality
Of your essence

I know that
I have intervened and helped redirect you enough
For you to land
In a safe and nourishing environment
In the forest
Without blowing it up
And self-destructing in the process
And I recognize that I am helpless
Standing on the sidelines
Of your journey
Which is now entangled with mine
And that it is
In your hands to decide upon
Your fate destiny
Which impacts me
And us
In […]

I write songs
As my way of communicating
The depth of my feelings
But I find that words
Are silly inadequate
To express the vastness of grief
That I feel
Without you here
The omnipresent void
That threatens to engulf me
In a dark abyss
My world is shattered
I feel resentful
That life carries on
Without you
In the splendor
Of leaves changing color
Glorious shades of red orange and yellow
Gracefully falling to the ground
Signaling the beginning of
What was always
My favorite season
But what now
Signals the end
Of Summer
Of you
Here alive
Making me crazy
As I love you infinitely
And as you love me back
Just as much if not more
I will never have an anchor
like you
Timeless bind
Of birth heart life soul
I try to reconfigure my idea
Of infinity
So that your death signals
not the end but the beginning
of something even more
Vast and magnificent
As old as time itself
And as timeless as Gd
As you rejoin the stars
And morph into
The limitlessness of Creation
But I find that while I understand
That you are more than this
As am I
I need a touchstone
That physicality
Means a lot to me
That I am in fact attached
To the body
Which I have always recognized
As the vehicle
For connection
But I am open
Ema Mommy
You told me you will be with me always
And that we can talk to each other
And that […]