Gang of Four & Shriekback
Were deeply formative for my views on what a simple guitar, bass and drum combo could be.
I may not have shared some of his later views on the music industry, but his musical work will remain utterly Game Changing,
Remembering the first time I heard Gil Scott Herron’s ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ and what an impression that track made on me, and looking back at the last few years, and conversations with fellow musicians it seemed reasonable to voice our discontent. I was noodling around and made a groove to try to relax one afternoon, then asked a few people to add to it expressing their views of…
Listen to the speaker claim to Cut a little deeper Same people still ain’t equal Promises they’ll be a sequel
But what’s a promise from a criminal And the righteous subliminal It’s only political
There’s gotta be a reason that it rhymes with hypocritical
The water rising, women’s rights flicker like lighting
Children in cages, militias are frightening
The lawnmower trims the blood from the grass leaves And spits out the sins for another school funeral
There’s much too much blood to get blessed
How’s a man to hydrate with all these bullets in his chest
An overhead bowling ball hanging from a string That’s the state of things
Who can marry who What should we do It ain’t nobodys business To judge or to choose Classified emails lock her up Classified documents fuggetaboutit Get wise, inflated chicken thighs Bitcoin highs, Nuclear skies, Ukranian cries
Slip another ship of oil through the embargo
An overhead bowling ball hanging from a string That’s the state of things
The revolution will not be televised, it will be livestreamed, tweeted, and viral-ized, caught crooked corporations close door underhanded lies shared and discussed On every social media platform device. a grassroots movement, demanding some improvement from a system formed against us, the disillusioned but now the will of the people will not be denied organized online plugged in and amplified The revolution will not be controlled, By those who seek to keep us from being in the know. toned down freedom of reach This is the state of things, a call to action reduced to hashtags and memes The algorithm schemes to keep some certain things unseen just keep dumbing them down with the next big thing untouchable elite dance their way out of mind with their catchy choreography and throw away lines Times up tik tok, social credit score, ready or not hope you’re up to date with acceptable thought Big tech may try to censor and suppress, But the people will find a way to express the truth.
If you’re talking from prejudice Shut your mouth
If you’re speaking without listening Shut your mouth
If you’re coming from hatred Shut your mouth
If you only got opinions Shut your mouth
If you haven’t done the research Shut your mouth
If you’re shouting over others Shhhh….
If you’re quoting out of context Shut your mouth
If you don’t have the knowledge or experience Shut your mouth
Racism!
Human Trafficing
Endemic Corruption
Alternative Truth
Science Denial
Crypto Ponzi
Toxic Positivity
Fascism
Climate Denial
Billionaires
Opiated Masses
Mindless Social Media
Sock Puppet Journalism
(wallpaper to drink to)
A noodle turned into a track¬
Bass, Gtr, Keys by Kirke Godfrey
Flugelhorn by Patrick Higgins.
Drums by “Levi’
Produced and Mixed by Kirke Godfrey
with some welcome input from Neil Aldridge and David Rolfe