Scholars have long considered modern Syria to be a little-understood country. While developments in the last five years should have further complicated this perception, a variety of accounts emerge daily throughout media and academic outlets, claiming to explain the Syrian “situation.” As the country that was until recently a rare case of functional social and cultural mixture of numerous religious and ethnic groups reels under the weight of the most devastating conflict of our generation, portraying it with broad brushstrokes seems less and less satisfying. In a bid to shed light on alternative narratives to those currently dominant in the analytical academic and public spheres, I offer in this presentation a contextual exploration of the interplay of key components in the issues of nation and religion in the contemporary state. Considering examples that reside along the faultlines of nationhood and religiosity, I highlight a dynamic interchangeability between the two, which challenges static conceptions of difference. This contextual reading of the local musical product in times of conflict sheds light on the intricate interplay between alterity and the dominant, which, through song, reveals itself with rare poignancy and clarity in the Syria of mid-2010s.