New tune -- "Not in My Town"

[fortyearspickn]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. That said, I wouldn't think a song in which the bad guys are white supremacists, white nationalists, the KKK and neo-Nazis should be that political. I mean, we all agree they're bad guys, right? Right?

This is why political discussions are frowned upon here.

You couldn't leave it alone.

[Lars68]

I listened and liked the song very much. Very nice bouncy rythm. Being Swedish, I have no business commenting on the topic of the song (I just don't know enough about what happened), but I firmly believe that the whole point of a "protest song" is to pick a side, to take a stand. There will always be others who don't agree with the stand taken, and that is perfectly fine. Protest songs can come from any point of view, and are by their very nature controversial.

 

Lars

[Allenjason95]

I listened and liked the song very much. Very nice bouncy rythm. Being Swedish, I have no business commenting on the topic of the song (I just don't know enough about what happened), but I firmly believe that the whole point of a "protest song" is to pick a side, to take a stand. There will always be others who don't agree with the stand taken, and that is perfectly fine. Protest songs can come from any point of view, and are by their very nature controversial.

 

Lars

 

 

And people are free to point out when they're nothing but propaganda.

 

You can pick a side but it should be based on facts, not what you think will be most popular. Anyone who has watched video of Charlottesville can see there were thugs and violent goons on all sides and they all went there looking for trouble.

 

And they found (caused) that trouble. A girl died. It happened a few days ago. Writing a completely one sided "protest song" is IMO morally wrong.

 

But hey, you like the beat so facts don't matter.

[dhanners623]

And people are free to point out when they're nothing but propaganda.

 

You can pick a side but it should be based on facts, not what you think will be most popular. Anyone who has watched video of Charlottesville can see there were thugs and violent goons on all sides and they all went there looking for trouble.

 

And they found (caused) that trouble. A girl died. It happened a few days ago. Writing a completely one sided "protest song" is IMO morally wrong.

 

But hey, you like the beat so facts don't matter.

 

You're sadly misinformed about the genre of protest music. To quote fortyyearspickn, you couldn't leave it alone.

 

Obviously, something about the events in Charlottesville touched a nerve with you and you feel the need, for reasons unknown to me, to defend/excuse/explain/mitigate the actions of some pretty detestable people. (We can agree that marching through the streets chanting "Jews will not replace us!" is detestable, right?) I took the time to look through several threads of original songs posted by myself and other forum members and you didn't feel the urge to comment on or critique their writing or performance. I'm sure there's a reason for that.

 

I could post a line-by-line defense of the facts in my song, but that takes us farther down the road of politics and farther away from discussing the craft of songwriting and performance. So in the interest of comity, I'll refrain from doing that.

 

Post your song on the event and we'll tell you what we think.

[OldCowboy]

A successful protest song will bring the feelings of like-minded listeners to a great degree of focus and clarity of expression.

 

A truly successful protest song makes those on the other side uncomfortable.

[littlejohnny]

Obviously nobody thinks Nazis or white supremacists are good guys... but that's a very simplistic view of what's going on. A lot of "white supremacists" in Charlottesville were just people against the removal of the statue. I don't think the statue should have been removed and I'm certainly not a racist or a Nazi or a white supremacist.

 

The left has been calling anyone who disagrees with them a "fascist", "nazi" or "white supremacist" for the past year so those words have lost all meaning. To hear them tell it there's a Nazi hiding behind every bush when the reality is it's a few rednecks. We've always had small numbers of klan rallies or white supremacists but before people protested them, they had their rally and then they went back to their trailers. Now? Social media is whipping everyone into a frenzy and it's going to end with people getting killed.

 

I keep seeing people saying "they came armed"..,,.yeah, everyone at these events is armed now because of the violence. Did you not see Berkeley? A lot of people ....on all the sides...,,going to these events now are going just to fight.

 

But no matter how abhorrent racism is and racists are they had a permit to hold their rally. We have freedom of speech in this country, not freedom of speech YOU personally agree with.

 

What's more is we've had identity politics shoved down our throats for years. What did people expect to be the end result of identity politics? You keep telling people they're to blame for everything, that they're privileged, that their ancestors were evil, that this country is founded on racism etc etc etc and what do you think that's going to result in? Everyone holding hands and saying how much they love each other?

 

Your song is a very simplistic version of what happened and why it happened. Did I just miss the verse about the dressed in black black mask wearing thugs attacking people because they don't like what they are saying? Did I miss the verse about the police standing down and doing nothing to prevent the bloodshed? I guess that's Ok "in your town".

 

Lastly.....you wrote a protest song.....about current red hot political events.....but you didn't think it "should be that political"? How would a political event..... that someone died at....that the whole country is outraged over ......and divided over .......not be "that political"?

 

 

 

What kind of gibson acoustic do you play?

 

I just love Dhanners623 j-35.

[Buc McMaster]

Writing a completely one sided "protest song" is IMO morally wrong.

 

What?! To quote John McEnroe, "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!" Where did you get your moral compass?!

 

Good thing Phil Ochs, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and a host of others didn't share your moral position on this. You might want to look up the definition of "protest" and compare that to the definition of "acquiescence"........you seem to have the two confused.

[blindboygrunt]

A successful protest song will bring the feelings of like-minded listeners to a great degree of focus and clarity of expression.

 

A truly successful protest song makes those on the other side uncomfortable.

 

 

You hit the nail on the head there cowboy

[fortyearspickn]

" To quote fortyyearspickn, you couldn't leave it alone."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 13px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Sort of selectively mis-quoting me there. That comment was clearly directed to you. You posted your song for feedback and only accepted the positive, while criticizing the one that was not. You imply anyone who disagrees with your lyrics supports bigots.The point is that this issue is not black and white, and your lyrics and comments suggest it is.If I were writing about global warming to get the reader listener engaged, I would not simply make the point "people who drive SUVs are evil."We live in San Antonio. The former mayor (former HUD Secretary and his Congressman brother were raised by an Hispanic Activist who co-founded LA Raza. She has publicly proclaimed she HATES The Alamo because of what it stands for. There is no question but that she would love to see it bull dozed. I'd be curious, if you chose this for your next "protest song" which side you would take.

[dhanners623]

" To quote fortyyearspickn, you couldn't leave it alone."<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 13px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Sort of selectively mis-quoting me there. That comment was clearly directed to you. You posted your song for feedback and only accepted the positive, while criticizing the one that was not. You imply anyone who disagrees with your lyrics supports bigots.The point is that this issue is not black and white, and your lyrics and comments suggest it is.If I were writing about global warming to get the reader listener engaged, I would not simply make the point "people who drive SUVs are evil."We live in San Antonio. The former mayor (former HUD Secretary and his Congressman brother were raised by an Hispanic Activist who co-founded LA Raza. She has publicly proclaimed she HATES The Alamo because of what it stands for. There is no question but that she would love to see it bull dozed. I'd be curious, if you chose this for your next "protest song" which side you would take.

 

I quoted you in irony. That approach apparently did not work. My bad.

 

Contrary to your belief, I read and digested what Allenjason95 said. I understood him clearly. But I also pointed out that his critique, such as it was, started from a fallacious premise -- namely, that a protest song somehow has a "moral" obligation to represent all sides of an issue. I'll say it simply: That's absurd. Instead of discussing the craft of songwriting or performance (or the tone of my J-35...) Allenjason95 chose to dispute the facts the song is based on. I was ready to talk songwriting and he wants to relitigate the events of Charlottesville and who was at fault. What does that have to do with songwriting?

 

Having lived in Texas and having been to San Antonio many times (LOVE Schilo's on Commerce...) I've visited the Alamo. Was always intrigued by how small it actually is. There is no serious effort to remove the mission so your premise is absurd. It doesn't matter what the former mayor thinks. The Alamo is on the National Register of Historic Places, is designated a National Historic Landmark and is a World Heritage Site, so it is well-protected by law. Nobody is going to be removing it, so your question is silly.

[OldCowboy]

I thought the thread was about writing protest songs in an effective manner. ?😯?

[fortyearspickn]

I thought the thread was about writing protest songs in an effective manner. ?😯?

I thought it was about Free Speech.

[OldCowboy]

I thought it was about Free Speech.

Guess I wandered into the wrong workshop😨 It ain't the first time😰

[fortyearspickn]

Guess I wandered into the wrong workshop😨 It ain't the first time😰

I have the same problem. I get Free Speech, Toletance, Equal Rights and respect all mixed up.

[fortyearspickn]

I quoted you in irony. That approach apparently did not work. My bad.

 

Contrary to your belief, I read and digested what Allenjason95 said. I understood him clearly. But I also pointed out that his critique, such as it was, started from a fallacious premise -- namely, that a protest song somehow has a "moral" obligation to represent all sides of an issue. I'll say it simply: That's absurd. Instead of discussing the craft of songwriting or performance (or the tone of my J-35...) Allenjason95 chose to dispute the facts the song is based on. I was ready to talk songwriting and he wants to relitigate the events of Charlottesville and who was at fault. What does that have to do with songwriting?

 

Having lived in Texas and having been to San Antonio many times (LOVE Schilo's on Commerce...) I've visited the Alamo. Was always intrigued by how small it actually is. There is no serious effort to remove the mission so your premise is absurd. It doesn't matter what the former mayor thinks. The Alamo is on the National Register of Historic Places, is designated a National Historic Landmark and is a World Heritage Site, so it is well-protected by law. Nobody is going to be removing it, so your question is silly.

 

 

Oh. "Irony"! I actually thought it was Sarcasm. But I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt. My rule of thumb is that Events are ironic and People are sarcastic.

Sort of like saying The Alamo is small. Sarcasm. Irony or something else?

Ten years ago, I'm sure you would have protested if someone suggested there were groups of people who want to remove Confederste statues and rename parks and schools. Next they'll be. Adalizing graves of Confederate soldiers.

This week, a pop singer was told to change his hairstyle because it was similar to Hitler's. He complied. Washington and a Jefferson owned Slaves. Should their names be stricken from our history?

You suggest that since there are "no serious" plans to raze The Alamo, we should not be concerned if mayors are tearing down public property in the middle of the night because it offends some people. Shouldn't everyone in those cities get to vote?

[dhanners623]

Oh. "Irony"! I actually thought it was Sarcasm. But I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt. My rule of thumb is that Events are ironic and People are sarcastic.

Sort of like saying The Alamo is small. Sarcasm. Irony or something else?

Ten years ago, I'm sure you would have protested if someone suggested there were groups of people who want to remove Confederste statues and rename parks and schools. Next they'll be. Adalizing graves of Confederate soldiers.

This week, a pop singer was told to change his hairstyle because it was similar to Hitler's. He complied. Washington and a Jefferson owned Slaves. Should their names be stricken from our history?

You suggest that since there are "no serious" plans to raze The Alamo, we should not be concerned if mayors are tearing down public property in the middle of the night because it offends some people. Shouldn't everyone in those cities get to vote?

 

And all of that has to do with songwriting how?

[Allenjason95]

And all of that has to do with songwriting how?

 

Dude, quit hiding behind "songwriting". You wrote a political protest song, not a song about how much you love your wife or how cool 63 Corvettes are or going to Mars or some other benign topic.

 

So just stop with the "what's this got to do with songwriting" crap.

 

Second you still don't get my point. Your song's lyrics are simple. They sound like you were listening to CNN and decided to just make a song out of what they were saying about Charlottesville.

 

You keep insinuating that because I CONDEMN ANYONE WHO COMMITTED VIOLENCE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE that I support redneck racists, which is about as simple and ridiculous as your song lyrics.

 

BTW it's coming out now the Untite the Right's organizer, Jason Kessler used to be on CNN's payroll, was involved with Ocvupy Wallstreet, supported Obama and Clinton and was against the 2nd amendment. Now does any of that sound like a "white nationalist" to you? He claims he was red pilled in 2016 but if you believe that I've got a bridge for sale.

 

That's what I mean about writing a one sided ignore simplistic "protest song" about an event where a person was just killed being immoral. You're (although you're too simple to realize it) both a victim of and a creator of propaganda.

 

The media has been hellbent to make Charlottesville look like a bunch of solid citizens confronting racism and that isn't what it was. It was a bunch of idiot tribal goons getting together to engage in mayhem and violence.

 

And you fell for it. You saw some BLM person on CNN or MNSBC and figured you'd maje a crowd pleasing "protest song" out of what she said but you didn't spend 5 seconds watching video or reading first hand accounts of what actually went down in Charlottesville.

 

BTW between 12-15 people were just killed in Spain by YET ANOTHER Muslim terrorist attack. I'm sure you'll be writing a "protest song" about Muslim terrorism too, right?

[dhanners623]

Dude, quit hiding behind "songwriting". You wrote a political protest song, not a song about how much you love your wife or how cool 63 Corvettes are or going to Mars or some other benign topic.

 

So just stop with the "what's this got to do with songwriting" crap.

 

Second you still don't get my point. Your song's lyrics are simple. They sound like you were listening to CNN and decided to just make a song out of what they were saying about Charlottesville.

 

You keep insinuating that because I CONDEMN ANYONE WHO COMMITTED VIOLENCE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE that I support redneck racists, which is about as simple and ridiculous as your song lyrics.

 

BTW it's coming out now the Untite the Right's organizer, Jason Kessler used to be on CNN's payroll, was involved with Ocvupy Wallstreet, supported Obama and Clinton and was against the 2nd amendment. Now does any of that sound like a "white nationalist" to you? He claims he was red pilled in 2016 but if you believe that I've got a bridge for sale.

 

That's what I mean about writing a one sided ignore simplistic "protest song" about an event where a person was just killed being immoral. You're (although you're too simple to realize it) both a victim of and a creator of propaganda.

 

The media has been hellbent to make Charlottesville look like a bunch of solid citizens confronting racism and that isn't what it was. It was a bunch of idiot tribal goons getting together to engage in mayhem and violence.

 

And you fell for it. You saw some BLM person on CNN or MNSBC and figured you'd maje a crowd pleasing "protest song" out of what she said but you didn't spend 5 seconds watching video or reading first hand accounts of what actually went down in Charlottesville.

 

BTW between 12-15 people were just killed in Spain by YET ANOTHER Muslim terrorist attack. I'm sure you'll be writing a "protest song" about Muslim terrorism too, right?

 

I find your obsession with this song curious; it makes me think that as protest songs go, I may be on to something because it seems to spur a reaction.

 

That said, I don't recall insulting you or calling you "simple" or anything similar, so there's really no call for that. And we're still waiting to read your lyrics.

[Allenjason95]

I find your obsession with this song curious; it makes me think that as protest songs go, I may be on to something because it seems to spur a reaction.

 

That said, I don't recall insulting you or calling you "simple" or anything similar, so there's really no call for that. And we're still waiting to read your lyrics.

 

You're on to something because it got a reaction? Yeah, the guy running that girl over in Charlottesville got a reaction, the terrorists who just killed a dozen people in Spain got a reaction, the BLM supporter who gunned down six cops in Dallas got a reaction. I guess they were on to something huh?

 

BTW....the reaction you're getting is me pointing out how simple, obvious, trite and untrue your song is. If that kind of reaction leads you to believe you're "onto something" you're even simpler and more ridiculous than I thought.

 

You insulted me by writing simple propaganda about an event before the victim was even in the ground and all but called me a supporter of white racists, so again, don't hide behind "it's about songwriting" or say obvious lies like "I didn't insult you". I take being called a supporter of racism as an insult.

 

Like I said, look up Jason Kessler's past before 2016 and let me know if he sounds like a "white nationalist" to you. While you're at it look up "agent provocateur" and "propaganda"

[dhanners623]

You're on to something because it got a reaction? Yeah, the guy running that girl over in Charlottesville got a reaction, the terrorists who just killed a dozen people in Spain got a reaction, the BLM supporter who gunned down six cops in Dallas got a reaction. I guess they were on to something huh?

 

BTW....the reaction you're getting is me pointing out how simple, obvious, trite and untrue your song is. If that kind of reaction leads you to believe you're "onto something" you're even simpler and more ridiculous than I thought.

 

You insulted me by writing simple propaganda about an event before the victim was even in the ground and all but called me a supporter of white racists, so again, don't hide behind "it's about songwriting" or say obvious lies like "I didn't insult you". I take being called a supporter of racism as an insult.

 

Like I said, look up Jason Kessler's past before 2016 and let me know if he sounds like a "white nationalist" to you. While you're at it look up "agent provocateur" and "propaganda"

 

Wow.

[Allenjason95]

Wow.j

 

"wow"?

 

Don't let anyone ever tell you you aren't witty.

[fortyearspickn]

1503005889[/url]' post='1875837']

You're on to something because it got a reaction? Yeah, the guy running that girl over in Charlottesville got a reaction, the terrorists who just killed a dozen people in Spain got a reaction, the BLM supporter who gunned down six cops in Dallas got a reaction. I guess they were on to something huh?

 

BTW....the reaction you're getting is me pointing out how simple, obvious, trite and untrue your song is. If that kind of reaction leads you to believe you're "onto something" you're even simpler and more ridiculous than I thought.

 

You insulted me by writing simple propaganda about an event before the victim was even in the ground and all but called me a supporter of white racists, so again, don't hide behind "it's about songwriting" or say obvious lies like "I didn't insult you". I take being called a supporter of racism as an insult.

 

Like I said, look up Jason Kessler's past before 2016 and let me know if he sounds like a "white nationalist" to you. While you're at it look up "agent provocateur" and "propaganda"

 

 

Next you'll be telling us that the majority stockholder of The New York Times is a Mexican national who made hundreds of millions selling Mexican made cell phones to the ObamaPhone program. Or that the CEO of Amazon, who is putting small businesses under owns The Washington Post.

[Buc McMaster]

It's easy to understand how Mr AllenJason accumulated his stellar bad reputation here on the forum. -76?! You've managed to annoy more than a few folks around here, haven't you? I'm going to guess that the "95" in your moniker is the year of your birth......that makes you about 22 years old.......and obviously still wet behind the ears. But hey, I could be wrong and you're just a argumentative old guy. Either way, you're still wet behind the ears.

[fortyearspickn]

If the "reputation" is the result of + and - scores which can be attached by any member to every comment....It is entirely possible for an Internet bully to focus on one me,bet who has angered him and go to 76 of his comments and put a negative score on it. It might take an hour or two, but you could easily, anonymously blackball someone. I don't think his age, or guitar preferences should have any bearing o how we "judge" his comments any more than we should automatically assign credibility to a member because he has a herd of Gibsons. Can play like Willi, and sing like Waylon. Let's judge each member by the content of his character ... And, with apologies to Dr. King, I'm done with this thread.

['Scales]

If the "reputation" is the result of + and - scores which can be attached by any member to every comment....It is entirely possible for an Internet bully to focus on one me,bet who has angered him and go to 76 of his comments and put a negative score on it. It might take an hour or two, but you could easily, anonymously blackball someone. I don't think his age, or guitar preferences should have any bearing o how we "judge" his comments any more than we should automatically assign credibility to a member because he has a herd of Gibsons. Can play like Willi, and sing like Waylon. Let's judge each member by the content of his character ... And, with apologies to Dr. King, I'm done with this thread.

 

I think you have made the best contributions in this thread. You nailed it on why this snowballed in the first place, and you nailed it on the above.

If people judge me on my age, number of guitars, songwriting lack of skill, etc... they might just as well judge me on my nationality, race or religion.

Kudos 40YP, and a +1 (for those who worry about such things).

 

 

(though I still like the percussive tapping in the song )