Wow! Busy week. Been listening to and reading about as many of my fellow songwriters as I can fit in. Some really beautiful material being created through this inspiring program.
I haven't posted my personal title, themes and first lines yet. Not sure I see the benefit. We'll see.
I began a new song for week 1. I was just completing the research (I often write songs that require research), when in my writing software, I noticed a song I started a couple of years ago. It's been bugging me ever since. This week challenged me to finish it, so I did.
This is a guitar/vocal scratch track with no processing (except for a limiter with dithering on the output), recorded using the electret condenser mic on my M-Audio Microtrack, and edited in Pro Tools. Not bad sound, considering.
I've embedded the Soundcloud track here, so viewers can read the lyrics as they listen, if they want to.
For ease of access, I'll also post it on the Challenge Blog and S.A.C. Challenge Facebook group page.
I don't write a lot of protest songs, but once and a while I get the urge. This one was inspired by the award winning video "Food Inc." by film maker Robert Kenner. Hope you like it.
Please Note: The widget works in some browsers but not in others, so just in case, here's the external link:
Soundcloud: Salt Of The Earth
Salt Of The Earth
Verse 1
He's a generation farmer, that's all he's ever known
Kept his loving wife and daughter, and a son who'll take the farm
Works the soil from dawn til dusk, blessed by God and sun and rain
He's never been the kind of man to go against the grain
Verse 2
On the wind the bad seed blew in, and grew amongst the good
Now the corporation's making threats against his livelihood
To the company thugs it's just another battle for control
They're trying to drive him under, they want to take his soul
Chorus 1
People say he's the salt of the earth
Just wants an honest dollar for a hard day's work
Now he's fighting to survive, for everything he's worth
Salt of the earth
Salt of the earth
Verse 3
His closest friend and neighbour for more than forty years
Went bankrupt fighting law suits, from those damned bioengineers
All he did was save his seed, for planting next year's crop
Some whining lap dog turned him in, now his life's a hatchet job
Chorus 2
People say he's the salt of the earth
Born with his sleeves rolled up, and his hands in the dirt
Now he's fighting to survive, for everything he's worth
Salt of the earth
Salt of the earth
Bridge
The lobbyists blindside the politicians
The corporations sabotage the law
While honest farmers sweat and bleed
This fight against the demon seed
Is win, lose or draw
Win, lose or draw
Chorus 3
People say he's the salt of the earth
A man as strong as his handshake, as good as his word
Now he's fighting to survive, for everything he's worth
Salt of the earth
Salt of the earth
Extro
Salt of the earth
Salt of the earth
He's the salt of the earth
Salt of the earth
(Repeat to fade)
(c) 2014 Wayne Rose
This is a story that needs telling; extirpation of farmers has been going on a lot in the past 50 years. Thanks for writing this tune.
ReplyDeleteGlad it resonates with you, Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was a subsistence farmer on the Manitoulin Island, in the early part of last century, until he lost the farm in the "dirty '30's".
As a kid, my family moved around a lot and often ended up living on a farm or in a small farming community in southern Ontario, so the subject is close to my heart.