Independence Day → Washingtons Blog
Independence Day - Washingtons Blog

Monday, July 4, 2011

Independence Day

One of my hobbies is music and songwriting. I wrote this last year for Independence Day.

(See below for notes on the music.)


The king's men
Have betrayed us
Tricked us out of
Our homes

No one else
Gonna save us
We must stand up
On our own


Divided
We've been conquered
For too long
We've played their game

United
We'd be invincible
So rise up
And shake off our chains


We've been fooled
By the banker
The sheriff
And the priest

We've been ruled
By the con man
The scoundrel
And the thief


Divided
We've been conquered
For too long
We've played their game

United
We'd be invincible
So rise up
And shake off our chains


Feel
The power
Streaming out
Through our souls [Note: if you're an atheist, think of it as our source of courage, or just change the last word to "soles"]

Now's
The hour
Come together
And let's roll


Here we are
In the meadow
It is time to
Decide

From afar
The army's nearing
Are we slaves or
Will we fight?


Divided
We've been conquered
For too long
We've played their game

United
We'd be invincible
So rise up
And shake off our chains


Feel
The power
Streaming out
Through our souls

Now's
The hour
Come together
And let's roll

Notes on the music: The drums are similar to U2's "Bloody Sunday", the guitar similar to U2 in some parts and the main riff from Little Steven's "Freedom" in other parts, and there are elements of Simple Minds' "Sanctify Yourself" or "Don't You Forget About Me" and - I know, I know - Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love".

Words and music Copyright © 2010-2011 George Washington.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you, GW. From Percy Shelley:


    'Ye who suffer woes untold,
    Or to feel, or to behold
    Your lost country bought and sold
    With a price of blood and gold -

    'Let a vast assembly be,
    And with great solemnity
    Declare with measured words that ye
    Are, as God has made ye, free -

    'And these words shall then become
    Like Oppression's thundered doom
    Ringing through each heart and brain,
    Heard again - again - again -

    'Rise like Lions after slumber
    In unvanquishable number -
    Shake your chains to earth like dew
    Which in sleep had fallen on you -
    Ye are many - they are few.'

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmm

    I don't buy the misty-eyed, hand on heart 'patriotism of our glorious founding fathers' crap. Let's face it - and to paraphrase the late great George Carlin - America is a nation founded by slave owners who wanted to be free. A bit of honesty about its real origins and what it did to maybe 20 odd million of its indigenous population (savages was the term used wasn't it?) might provide some hope of escape from a hideously aggressive past that as yet shows no sign of improving with age.

    ReplyDelete
  3. you are my fav blog keep up the good work

    ReplyDelete
  4. There is a great book out there that would go well with this musick (provide your own staves): "The First American Revolution (before Lexington and Concord)" by Ray Raphael.

    ReplyDelete

→ Thank you for contributing to the conversation by commenting. We try to read all of the comments (but don't always have the time).

→ If you write a long comment, please use paragraph breaks. Otherwise, no one will read it. Many people still won't read it, so shorter is usually better (but it's your choice).

→ The following types of comments will be deleted if we happen to see them:

-- Comments that criticize any class of people as a whole, especially when based on an attribute they don't have control over

-- Comments that explicitly call for violence

→ Because we do not read all of the comments, I am not responsible for any unlawful or distasteful comments.