"Rich Man (phone demo)" / "Limping Toward Gomorrah (phone demo)"
I wrote these two songs within the past month or so. I intend to record fully-produced versions of them in the future, but wanted to share the demos now.
"Rich Man"
This one is a mostly self-explanatory class warfare anthem. But the bridge dips into something I find particularly execrable: prosperity theology.
I was a dyed-in-the-wool believer as a child. Read the Bible cover to cover in middle school. Between services, Boy Scouts, Bible study, and more, I attended or took part in around 7 church events every week. I still cannot wrap my head around the hypocrisy of Evangelicals when it comes to money (among so many other things). Their daily lives are centered around oppressing "the least of these" and collecting wealth - two things that are diametrically opposed to a "Christ-like" life. The Bible doesn't mention trans people or abortion at all, but it is abundant with instruction on the morality of wealth-hoarding.
Yet, in the middle 20th century, the idea that God will reward his most faithful with financial success took hold. It is anathema to the literal word of Christ, but most Evangelicals' beliefs are centered in the narratives passed down to them via charismatic preachers and a firehose of Republican propaganda rooted in the Southern Strategy (and other concerted, long-term efforts to weaponize American Christians' hates and fears into a shared delusion that Christian=American=Republican).
Matthew (verse 6:24), the first of the gospels, is very explicit on this topic: “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (material wealth)." Seems pretty clear-cut, right?
Lyrics
My daddy wanted to be a rich man
He’d burn it all down to get his way
My daddy never ended up a rich man
A sycophant, their septic tank
I was told to be a rich man
It was the only way to succeed.
I knew I’d never be a rich man.
Middle class was more my dream
Oh, and what a dream
Work all day and pray
It doesn’t kill me
Dear god, there goes that rich man
A noble gait, such purity
Don’t bother the poor little rich man
Vast egos, the frailest of things
It’s his right to be a rich man
It’s all his and never yours
After all, you’d be a rich man
If you really wanted it more.
Oh, but here I’ll stay
Work all day and pray
It doesn’t kill me
It should be a sin
To own as much as him
But the purest souls
Reap god’s rewards
Hallelujah, Hosanna,
And all that jazz
Who said you can only serve
One invisible hand?
All our lives belong to rich men
All this land and all our days
Maybe one day all these rich men
Could colonize our early graves
Oh, what a dream
I wonder who’d take their place
And try to kill me
And try to kill me
They'd try to kill me
"Limping Toward Gomorrah"
A common theme of my more political music is that "there are more of us than them", that a truly intersectional view of identity and oppression focused on building an equitable world starts with the old chestnut "None of us are free until we're all free." None of us have but one identity, and our liberation cannot exist in silos. "First, they came for the Communists" and all that.
Having grown up in the world of the fascists that now rule us, I have an intimate understanding of how interconnected their bigotry is, and how it all boils down to a fear of the other. It is all "fruit of the same poisonous tree", as it were: They have no emotional creativity, empathy, or ability to think critically. They have no theory of mind. No sonder.
But in the real world, the temporal targets of their contempt ebb and flow. Every marginalized identity takes its turn in the cultural crosshairs, while the low thrum of our shared and individual experiences with oppression remains constant. While the cause is the same, our struggles are unique, in both communal and individual contexts.
Their hatred of immigrants comes from the same place as their hatred of BIPOC in general, of GSRM folk, of women, of people with disabilities. But the vagaries of that hatred's manifestations vary wildly, and right now, we have secret police extrajudicially abducting folks in broad daylight justified by racist assumptions about their immigration status*. Yes, we're all in this together, but I don't have to fear, every time I step outside, being disappeared due to the petty vindictiveness of men too ignorant to understand our universal human rights. Yet.
This song attempts to address the core fallacy of conservative authoritarianism - that the law should bind some while protecting others - while also acknowledging the ways it disproportionately impacts any of us at any given moment. There is a sociocultural shell game used to prevent true solidarity of the working class by pitting us against each other, and we can only win if we stop playing. But that doesn't mean we're all facing the same battle. It's important to acknowledge that. To find a way to carry those two separate truths, and to speak up for the oppression of others out of communal interest and empathy for our fellow human beings, regardless of personal impact. The one thing that binds us all is that, contrary to the tenets of Christofascism, we all deserve the same access to our human rights.
*I'd like to point out here that immigrating to the US via extralegal means is a fucking MISDEMEANOR. It is akin to disorderly conduct or shoplifting in the eyes of the law. Yet those who commit felonies (kidnapping, open coup attempts) to punish people they hate paint themselves as being of superior moral character for doing so.
Lyrics
Ten foot tall graffiti that says “Compassion grows”
Towers over the tents that collect by the road.
I know they meant well with that catchphrase decor,
But I can’t say i believe that anymore
Doublespeak in Dolby from 4K TVs
Petty grievance victimhood in pixelated memes
Terrified of everything, armed to the teeth
And our blood ain’t enough for the lede.
Nothing about this is beautiful.
Nothing about this is free.
They can shit themselves ragged
With sanctimony
But it don’t change the truth they won’t see:
We deserve to be happy.
Safety glass shattered spills out on the street
“We’re all in this together” a sick irony.
Now, there’s a ghost where a man used to be.
And a family left wondering
They got that gestapo way down in the soul,
Insecurity, and a kink for control.
“States rights” the ultimate virtue extolled.
Never forget: This was always the goal.
Nothing about this is beautiful.
Nothing about this is free.
They can shit themselves ragged
With sanctimony
But it don’t change the truth they won’t see:
We deserve to be happy.
No one who actively fought for their “right”
To condemn 200,000 people to die
All because they “refuse to live in fear”
Would last one day of ours, much less 43 years.
A display of strength is just that: a display.
Shallow and selfish as prayer.
No one with love in their lives needs to prey
On the weak or deal in such terror.
Nothing about this is beautiful.
Nothing about this is free.
They can shit themselves ragged
With sanctimony
But it don’t change the truth they won’t see:
We deserve to be happy.
We deserve to be happy.
We deserve to be happy.
We deserve to be happy.
