FAWM: "Burn It All Down"

Burn It All Down

3 days ago by @raspberry33

Skirmish: Burn down to rebuild (@robinleaf)

Burn It All Down

raspberry33

00:00

Liner Notes

The art of lyric writing is to get into the head of the protagonist, even if he or she isn't exactly on your personal wavelength. I'm imagining a guy who's been disillusioned by the events of the past year. He was gung-ho to "burn it all down" after the 2024 elections, but is now having second thoughts. I think there's a kernel of a really good song here, and a rewrite is needed. Meanwhile, I'll add marimba to cover a multitude of vocal and production deficiencies! Suggestions appreciated, and I have a thick skin, so constructive criticism is welcomed on how to make this song better. (Maybe as speed metal?) #skirmish #singersongwriter #political #disillusion

Lyrics

Once again, it was the same old talk ‘bout how’d we been misled and misused “What’s left to do”, an old guy said they have no clue they lit a fuse – now we will

CHORUS: Burn it all down and start again Burn it all down if not now, then when? Burn it all down we gone from left to right and left again But nothing ever changes….does it?

VERSE 2: I bought the sneakers and I bought the watch Bought thirty-five digital cards Knew what was true when they demonized blue send the Squad our best regards

Have we become dependent on what influencers tell us to think If there’s danger, it won’t happen here Forget about it, have another drink

CHORUS

BRIDGE: Our voters pick our leaders, not the other way around If the process isn’t working, who’s gonna shut the machinery down Before it all burns down – I don’t want to see that!

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE  VERSE 3 These days, I feel I wasted my vote in a lottery I can never win Failing to prepare is preparing to fail Is it too late to begin?

I’ve watched and learned a lot this year like an elf on the shelf Show me data, make the battle plan clear and then I will think for myself

CHORUS Not gonna burn it all down and start again Not Burn it all down not now, not ever Burn it all down we go right to left to right But this time, it’s gotta change!

Comments

@harperjen 3d

Especially love the chorus!! And HOW DID YOU DO ALL THAT SO QUICKLY?? Bass, drums, keys, marimba? I'm so impressed!

@raspberry33 3d

The secret is to have a GarageBand template with the stuff I usually use - a drummer track, and tracks ready to add MIDI bass, drums, keys. That saves 15 minutes at least. The marimba was an afterthought, and cost me another few minutes. Also, I had some lyric scraps on the subject kicking around already, so the writing came quickly, though with more time, I'd have been less literal.

@alyak72 3d

Good track and sweet marimba :) The lyrics are strong, but I'd definitely edit some of the wordiness down. Hard to do in one hour, but you've got a great skirmish on your hands.

@raspberry33 3d

Thanks! Wordiness is my default mode, and the drummer in my band usually crosses off 1/3 of the lyrics when we're collaborating. Some songs just emerge, others (like this one) need to marinate.

@hoppiern 3d

Wow - you've got a lot of good stuff going on here! The whole structure and feel of this is really good - you captured the feeling in the bar especially well! I really like the line "failing to prepare is preparing to fail". But lots of good lines here and a strong message. Hopefully people will hear it! Good work on the prompt!