Well my mother named me bitter
Although as a child I was so kind
Hiding myself in the trees to watch over my brother

But still my name was bitter
Bitter the taste of the sea
Bitter the cries of the horses drowning behind us

If anybody had asked me
I might not have chosen to go
But everyone knows
Sometimes you don't have a choice

So when he said You’re banished, Seven days in the desert alone
I just started walking
I knew there was nothing to say

The scorpions and the spiders
Crawled up to me and stopped in my shade
Together in silence we watched
As the sun crossed the sky

And if your father spit in your face
Wouldn’t you want to leave that place
And if your skin should turn to snow
Wouldn’t you have to go
And if your God should turn from you wouldn’t you turn too.

Still I don’t regret a minute
And I don’t regret an hour
of the week that I lived all alone
at the top of the mountain

Though no voice came down from heaven
and I never saw words written in fire
I did see the birds of prey pick all the carcasses clean

If anybody had asked me
I might not have chosen to go
But everyone knows
Sometimes you don’t have a choice

And if your father spit in your face
Wouldn’t you want to leave that place
And if your skin should turn to snow
Wouldn’t you have to go
And if your God should turn from you
wouldn’t you turn too.

1. Apart from the words, what does the artist convey about the emotional experience of Miriam through the music? (listen once more if that would be helpful.)
2. “If anybody had asked me / I might not have chosen to go / But everyone knows / Sometimes you don’t have a choice.” The Miriam of this interpretation is resigned; how would your Miriam respond to her leprosy and exile?