Alon Ohel was 22 years old when he was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7. A pianist with plans to study jazz in Tel Aviv, Ohel is still being held hostage.
His parents said last week in an open letter that they received information that he is suffering from life-threatening injuries and is on the brink of going blind. It’s an unimaginable terror that touched the heart of Ventura-County based singer songwriter John Ondrasik—also known as Five for Fighting.
"All these people get up every day and, you know, fight this fight. I can't imagine that. It's the unimaginable," Ondrasik told KCLU.
Ondrasik’s biggest hit Superman became an anthem for the missing after 9/11. This time, he’s re-recorded and re-released the song to raise awareness for the plight of Ohel and the remaining hostages who were kidnapped one year and 7 months ago.
"And that was one reason I thought it was appropriate to do a new version of Superman, because, of course, for our Jewish friends, October 7th is their 9/11. It wasn't lost on me that the significance of Superman for 9/11 and now for 10/7," he said.
The revised lyrics reflect a hope for the release of the hostages.
"It's a new version," said Ondrasik. "Interestingly, we were in the studio and I was in the booth singing and there's a couple of lines in the second verse where it says, 'wish that I could cry, fall upon my knees, find a way to lie about a home I'll never see'. And I kind of literally stopped. And I said, 'we can't sing that'," said Ondrasik.
"Many hostages have been released. The fortitude of these hostage family members are superhuman. Idit, the mother of Alon Ohel, who is the boy that we are doing this video for, is just an incredible fighter. So we changed that lyric to, 'wish that I could cry, fall upon my knees, find a way to fly to a home I will soon see,'" he said.
"And that is our goal with this, to bring the plight of the hostages back to the spotlight."
Ondrasik says he’s not being political or religious—and says it’s a moral issue—and that artists like himself have a duty to use their music and platform in powerful ways.
"Kids on TikTok, they don't read op-eds, they don't listen to speeches. But when they see a song, and maybe a song they know, they might listen a little differently and understand that this is not a political message. The hostages are human beings. Many of them are the age of the people watching this on social media. So I think it's a way to get to them and maybe have them think twice about what they've been taught, what they've been told," he said.
In recent years, Ondrasik has found himself compelled to write music with a social commentary. It’s taken him to play at a bombed-out airfield in Ukraine, and in Hostage Square, Israel, where he sang while Ohel’s brother played piano.
Ondrasik knows what he would like for his next performance there.
"We all look forward to the day that I can go to Tel Aviv and sit at the Yellow Piano in Hostage Square, which is actually Alon's piano, and play a duet of Superman with him."
