“God Bless Em” - a song about prevarication
Recorded just outside of Terlingua, TX while the sun was setting
Story Pairing
I remember writing this when I was questioning a lot of the things that the folks in charge were doing. I find myself questioning those things again.
Personally I am just not a very political person. As a kid it bored the hell out of me learning about government, as an adult it makes me angry to see so many people “tricked”. When I say that I don’t say it from a place of policy or anything because frankly I haven’t educated myself enough to argue about those things. No, the concept of being tricked comes from how we have attached ourselves to people in a personal way, and those people have no clue that we exist or what our lives are like. I can expand on this of course, but that’s where you start to get people mad for no reason. There is enough of that going on. So I would just say if what I am writing is starting to make your heart beat a little faster, know that I’m not planting my flag or knocking down anyone else’s. I’m more of a community garden sort of guy that one of conquest and entrance fees.
The story I’ve created in my head around this song is about a pack of greedy dogs. They roam the world looking for treats. The treats are often found in abundance, but the greed of the pack means that they gorge themselves every time they find them, so they become somewhat of a rarity. One day a lead dog finds a massive sack of treats, bigger than ever before and instead of letting the others in the pack know about the bounty, he hides it behind his back and hands out just one to each of the other (now grateful) dogs. They praise him for giving them something when they had nothing. Basking in their praise he demands they sleep outside while he sleeps in the cave they’ve all shared up to this point. He promises them a single treat a day if they do this. They happily agree since he’s just gifted and promised them something so extraordinary. He lays claim to the dwelling where he stashes his still brimming bag of treats and lets no other dogs enter what is now his. The dogs build grass huts and over time forget all about the time when they used to live in the cave too. The lead dog grows fat on his sack of treats, and now sends the rest of the dogs out daily to find more. They bring them all to him where he hordes the true amount in secret, still handing them out to all the dogs one at a time. The pack has gotten so comfortable working for the lead dog, sleeping in their grass huts, and receiving a treat a day that they don’t question any of it. When other packs come by and start to bark of change, the grass hut pack chases them off in the name of their great lead dog who shares with them daily. The other packs try to tell them that without greed as their credo, there are fields of treats that can be shared and enjoyed in moderation with the occasional day or two of no treat. The grass huts get angry by the idea and start biting the other dogs when they get close. Meanwhile the lead dog get’s fatter and fatter and the pack praises him more and more about how great and grand he is.
Maybe there is meaning in that dumb little story, maybe there isn’t. I’m just a songwriter, what the hell do I know.
Song Structure
E / A / E / B7 / A7 / E
You gotta love a simple blues progression
Voice Memos
No Notebook Page
April 2020
Lyrics
The windows getting dusty from the storm outside
I’m gonna keep to myself, gonna keep on hiding
from the daylight, hiding from the daylight
Ima do what they say, cause they know best
Aint no hidden agenda, aint no gun to the chest
God Bless Em
There’s too many people, who don’t hear too good
Gonna keep to myself, like a good fool should
I’m listening, I’m listening
If I get too far from your design, tip my hat, step back in line
God Bless Em
Got a dollar in my pocket, one or two in my shoe
Gonna keep to myself, it’s not for sharing with you
I’m rolling, keep on rolling
I’m a free man now, can’t be bought or sold
That’s why they sent the silver but they kept the gold
God Bless Em
Got a little bit of tickle in the back of my throat
Gonna keep to myself, dont want no one to know
I’m dying, we’re all dying
Could be the whiskey, could be the wine
Could be the man at the top says it’s time
God Bless Em x4