Superstition: A Song by Julian Walker

Hey, Julian, I'm at work and can't listen now, but I look forward to giving it a listen when I get home tonight.  I'll definitely give feedback! 

Since you're sharing songs you made, I wanted to share with you some lyrics from two of the songs of my old band, The Dog Soldiers.  This stuff is really old – I was probably 19 at the time – but I'm sharing it (for fun) because I think you might appreciate the sentiments (and the contents).  I've mentioned this before, but the leader of the band was Jimmy Thornton, Billy Bob Thornton's brother.  I think I also have a link to some old practice runs of these songs that we did in the studio, which I'll edit in if I can find it.  (Edit:  Yep, I found the link.)

The Gates

First they tell you that you're a sheep

Better pray the Lord your soul to keep.

They tell you that the church is built

On faith and love, but it's fear and guilt,

That keeps the followers enslaved

With promises of being saved

By self-proclaimed holy men

Who tell you freedom is a sin.

And if you buy everything they sell,

If you believe everything they tell,

If you'd follow them to where the angels dwell,

You'll follow them through the Gates of Hell.

They say that it's okay to kill

If it's for God, and for God they will.

In the name of God they justify

Every swindle and every lie.

They'd sell you blessing for common sense,

Heaven isn't cheap - you gotta pay to repent.

And the congregation smiles and nods,

Not knowing power's their only god.

And if you buy everything they sell,

If you believe everything they tell,

If you'd follow them to where the angels dwell,

You'll follow them through the Gates of Hell.

Is it wrong to look within

For answers, and not to other men?

Is it wrong to reach out and feel the lure

Of the Mystery and drink the power pure?

Is it wrong to search the Source

With no one to dictate our course?

I will follow the guiding hand,

But I'll never bow to any man.

And if you buy everything they sell,

If you believe everything they tell,

If you'd follow them to where the angels dwell,

You'll follow them through the Gates of Hell.

Pretoria Burning

Tell us all about the way things are getting better

Hoping that the world will ignore your crimes

But every day your streets are getting redder

Call it reform - I call it wasted time

A government's got the duty to survive

But where's the justice in the words of those who

Say you've got the right to stay alive

Even at the price of the freedom of those you rule?

Anyone can see that history shows

The only way that the white man knows

Is to lock Mother's sons on a piece of ground

They try to stand up and you knock them back down

Pick them back up before Pretoria's burning down

Tell us every day that things are getting better

In your well-rehearsed movie lines

But every day your face is getting redder

Call it engagement - I call it wasted time

You fear the Marxists at the helm

Of the Revolution dream come true

What do you expect when the dreamers are getting

Support from them, and they're getting nothing from you?

And the Great White Chief in Washington is

Hiding like the craven dog he is

Till someone's looking, then he's all around

Flashing his phony smile around

Will he still be smiling as Pretoria's burning down?

Tell us every day that things are getting better

But we're not going to ignore your crimes

Because every day your streets are getting redder

Call it what you want to - I call it wasted time

Anyone can see that they're ready to fight

And no one needs to ask them why

Anyone can see which side is right

And no one wants to see any more people die

No one wants to see the cities burn

But everyone wants to see the lesson learned

No matter how long or loud you bleat

You still hear the tribal war drum beat

Better end it in the halls where the wise men meet

Or we'll take it to the streets as Pretoria's burning down

We'll end it in the streets as Pretoria's burning down

Aah ya yo yo yo

Waaah

Wah ya yo yo yo

Waaah

Hai hai hai

Hey hai hai

Hoka hey

Hai hai hai

Hey hai hai

Hoka hey

Hai hai….

Yeah, I look forward to it.  I think it's great that you've kept this musical part of you alive and well – as has Adam, as I understand.  I haven't played much in the last six years or so, ever since moving to California.

I included the song about Pretoria (our angry letter to Reagan) because I know you are from South Africa.

Best wishes,

B.

awesome! love the beat and the catchy lyrics. the New Atheists would love this :)
how about posting the lyrics online so people can sing along?

btw, you remind me of Eddie K of Live. if only you'd shave your head :) nah, enough bald integral folks!

keep it rocking!

~C

Again, very cool to find this community :)  One of the things I like about your space here is how you incorporate joy, music, dance, art…into each day.  Essential, I believe.

Great song, great lyrics!  Sing on!

Right after 9/11 (they evacuated the city where I worked at the time) I wrote a brief piece akin to your song's last stanza (that ended up getting printed in a London paper - a mischievous friend submitted it without telling me - which was cool and reminded me that I needed to learn a lesson in overcoming self-consciousness…).   Really felt that perspective…  “…and we are so much more…” and so many were, when that happened.

Feeling inspired to go off on a tangent on freedom :) 

Freedom to write and sing and share as you do…  And how often we can take some freedoms for granted.  I'm reminded especially of a photograph of white crosses posted along the Mexican / US border and what they represent… 

A few years ago, an acquaintance (who works for Knight-Ridder) went down there to document what was happening during an intensely-heated political debate about fences between countries.  The paper wouldn't let him print, much less share with others, 95% of what he saw.  But he shared with us…  

That one photo is imprinted on my memory, indelibly.  “What price, freedom!”  What we will do for it!  Political freedom.  Freedom from religion.  Freedom from opression.  Freedom from superstition.  Freedom from self-consciousness…  Which are real, which are illusory…  Which prisons do we creat for ourselves (Creed), which are thrust upon us…  I think of Viktor Frankl, Elie Wiesel…  Which freedoms are inherent within us, No Matter What.

(Maybe you've covered some, most or all of this already?  Eh, well, I'm new here :) )

And last…interesting how some are envious of others' freedom to the extent they harm them personally or like 9/11; while I accept the reality, I remain confused about this level of envy.  Last weekend, an old friend laughed, saying even at 41, I remain naive.  Naive?  No :)

man! that's some lengthy lyrics! just memorizing it is already a feat on its own. great work bro. keep on refining it and maybe you could get a recording contract with, um, Integral Records? ;)

seriously, loving your passion and creativity. keep at it.

~C

Happy to! 

I lived in Pittsburgh at the time…an old coal city…  I was deeply touched by the usual busy-ness and noise replaced by people expressing love and compassion in their respective ways.  I knew someone on the 91st floor of one of the WTC buildings and had just visited him there - he survived. 

Much of our firm's staff was in the buildings - not all survived.  People I loved were suffering so much, my heart was full of finding some way to see more than the pain and comfort loved ones…sharing how I deeply felt, for the first time, with others…

“The little elderly lady across the street, the one who so loves sunflowers and can hardly walk because her back aches so much, turned on her porch light tonight.  The neighbours diagonal from me, the ones who let their grass grow knee-high, lined their walk with flags, put their porch light on and set candles in the windows.  There is no need for street lights tonight.

At work, casual Friday turned into various styles and shades of red, white and blue Friday.  Everyone left on time today, to get home to loved ones and to light the candles and say a prayer.  During the congested evening rush hour, cars and trucks lining the highway and roadways were decorated with everything from plastic American flags taped to antennae, to trunks wrapped in red, white and blue cloths, to flags printed from colour printers stuck to their rear and side windows and license plates.  [Rush hour was silent: absent honking horns, shouting, or road rage that day.]

Heartfelt e-mails from friends and colleagues and family from all around the world envelop us in hugs of warmth and compassion.  Murumured prayers lay gently on the breezes in our towns and cities.  Hope and peace are twinkling brightly in the night skies, glimmers of the triumph of the human spirit in the single flickering candlelights.  Quietly, through the dust and the rubble and the rain and the tears, softly glowing coals are growing brighter with the spirit of life and truth and honour.”

Julian, I was just able to give it a listen.  Very nice!  As C4 says, catchy rhythm and words.  For me, reminiscent of Michael Fronte as well as Eddie K.

If you're losing a lot of your spontaneous creative work, you should start recording more!  I regret now that I have lost later (more polished) Dog Soldier recordings as well as “basement” or live recordings of some of my songs with other bands (Sky Burial, As It Is), not to mention songs we never recorded and I couldn't remmeber for the life of me…

C4 might be kidding about Integral Records…but I think it's a good idea! 

All the best,

B.

i have a very limited attention span so if i watched the whole song you must have been doing something right for me! i loved it - great message and lyrics. would love to hear it recorded in a studio. keep on singing and spreading those positive vibes…

nice! i think your tuned down at least a half a step giving it a d flat minor aeolian double time vamp/vibe. if you are tuned down it might be because it makes it a little easier to snap and claw with your right hand fingers. nice shift to the relative major for the bridge. good phrasing and intonation with the vocals and yes, great memory and decent lyrics and metre!
can't say i wholly disagree with the message, but there are many people that would argue that all the things wrong with what  your singing about is also a good argument for the existence of satan………………metaphorically speaking perhaps it is satan's world after-all
music bores me to tears these days, but you keep up the good work, bro. j…….

  Hi Julian. You asked for comments so I'll comment. I like that you've posted the song. I like how music has the potential for re-languaging ideas and emotions. I had the creative process explained to me once as the tension between show and tell. Telling is straight forward declarative sentences_ no ambiguity, no subtlety and little opportunity for the qualities of resonance and projection. Showing is much more difficult. It is the art of presenting images, metaphors and evoking emotions.
  I'm glad I read your comments about your creative process and certainly you should stick with what works. There is much power in the act of making/creating something. The formal presentation of work requires some polishing. There is raw energy in this song that is fitting to the months immediately after 9/11. Now that many years have passed a more nuanced approach is possible. Beware of mixed metaphors ”we are cut from the same cloth there is beauty at the core”.  Those are the kinds of rough edges that could be worked with if the lyrics were written down. I know it rhymes with the line below and it is hard to give up a good rhyme. It grated when I heard it.
  So, I'm just thinking out loud here. Protest songs that are the most “successful” come at their protesting from the side. I'm thinking of Woody Guthrie's “This land is your land” or, of course, the master Bob Dylan. “It's a hard rain gonna fall”.
  As for the song I think you would really enjoy the process of working with others and adding bass and drums and maybe a second guitar. Working in a studio would free you up from both playing and singing at the same time. I know, a very different process, but I think you might find it liberating and injuicing to your creative process.
  Can you tell I had a mixed reaction? that I resist being “preached to”? Ah the irony, the irony….

Julian, you're a regular polymath!

Nice song. I really like your voice.

julian—great song! i love the passion and energy. i'm no musician, so feel a bit unqualified to comment on technique.

balder—i love the lyrics you posted as well—were you the primary lyricist for the Dog Soldiers? I listened to those songs and loved them, they actually reminded me a little of REM in their “Document” days.

julian actually i do have a thought. maybe skimming down the lyrics would add some depth and could help drive the point home a little more elegantly. (i tend to be verbose too.) the rough material is all there and just needs to be whittled down into something that will leave the listener engaged and thinking without being overloaded.

and as coyoteyogi suggested, a simple backup sound would be good, were you ever to look into recording. i like the idea of “integral records” too. :)

for fun, check out tom waits's “step right up”  about consumerism. in typical waits style he adds his humor and enough slur so you may have to google some of the lyrics. your song reminded me of his a bit, though it's not the same thing.

the youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OzKQ6BLzds&feature=related

:)

Hi, Daate, thanks for your comments.  Jimmy Thornton was the primary songwriter and lyricist, though I wrote a handful of our songs.  Jimmy wrote “The Gates” and “Pretoria Burning,” but I wrote “Walk In Beauty,” which is also posted on the Purevolume site.  The first song on that site, “Island Avenue,” has been covered by his brother, Billy Bob – you can hear his version of it on his album, The Edge of the World.  (But I think our original version is better!)  He also covers another one of our songs, “Emily,” on that album, but I am still partial to our original version of that one as well.

First time I heard you play this song at the last Open Sky Retreat  I thought …”He should record this!”.  I´m glad you finally put this up!  You have a beautiful voice! The song is well written and the message is powerful!  I would like to see you put up more of your music.  Seriously! 
I´m keeping busy here in Brazil… taking care of things, spending time with family , seeing old friends and joining the yoga community in Rio.  I can´t go to your classes,so I practice to your CD often.  Thank God for the cd ;)
I hope all is well!  I´ll keep in touch…
Sending love from Rio!
~B

Hey Julian!  Loved ur song.  It gave me the chills, well put.  The lyrics and the rythm sound great together. 

more please yes yay love love love love LOVE it.