Matter of Habit, a song originally by Izhar Ashdot, was banned in the singer’s home country of Israel for its’ blatant criticism of the government. A Norwegian musician by the name of Moddi recorded a cover of it to add to his album entitled Unsongs. This album includes a collection of covers of censored songs from over the decades, including Ashdot’s song. In the middle fo the Iraeli-Palestinian Conflict, this song took a dangerous stance against war and the required military time in Israel. The first verse starts off with, “Learning to kill is a matter of habit/The more you have done it, the better you're at it,” a direct call out of the military. This verse illustrated the short story of a young man being forced to kill for the sake of his country. This song follows the story of things that become a habit, the more they are experienced, all taken from first hand accounts of Israeli soldiers. Izhar points out the following habits– killing, learning to fear, and cruelty, ending with the lyric, “Learning to love is a natural thing”. This approach is largely perceived as a protest song, a song that tells a tragic story and rallies people to act. However, Ashdot has been quoted as saying, “I have a problem with calling something a protest song or a political song. This song talks about what happens to our kids when they enter the army,” (Unsongs).
