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A Song About This

by John Shipe

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about

A humble response to Black Lives Matter and the seemingly unending racial struggles in our country.
Pledging all proceeds to the Eugene, Oregon Chapter of NAACP.
naacplanecounty.org/products/

lyrics

I can write a song about anything.
I got a thousand ideas on my list,
Work songs, travel songs, love songs with a twist,
But I can’t write a song about this.

They’re tearing down the statues in the square,
Getting dragged across the concrete by the hair,
Chanting “I can’t breath!” through their masks.
You know you’re down to your last when one breath is all you ask.

I write the songs about broken things,
Broken hearts, broken promises, and broken dreams.
But I never thought I’d have to write a song
About my broken country.

They look a lot like people I have seen,
My heroes at the ballpark, my idols on the stage & screen.
And I think about the souls I always took for granted,
While I feasted from the strange fruit trees we planted long ago,
Centuries ago.

I can write a song about anything --
The sunlight shining through the mist,
The light in my lover’s eyes just before we kiss.
But I can’t write a song about this.

I sing praises to the workingman, in factory and farm.
My Blues is never meant to cause no harm.
But the voice will surely rise to sound of the alarm,
When there’s a stranger bleeding in your arms.

I can write a song about anything,
My head in the cosmos, and my feet on the ground.
If I’ve seen it, I know it. In my music, I will show it.
But please don’t ask me to put these things down
In my songbook now.

I never pointed my guitar like a gavel or gun.
But that was some kid’s father, some loving mother’s son.
This wasn’t the bargain, when I followed my bliss,
No, I can’t write a song about this.

I can write a song about anything.
But I can’t write about this.

credits

released November 27, 2020
Produced by Tyler Fortier & Ehren Ebbage
John Shipe - Guitar & Vocals
Ehren Ebbage - Guitar, Drums, Bass, Piano, Banjo
Tyler Fortier - Organ & Vocals
Erin Flood-Fortier - Vocals

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John Shipe Eugene, Oregon

Gushing reviews surround Shipe’s Americana work, charting in 6 countries on 3 continents. He's opened for Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Cake, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Jerry Joseph, Jimmy Cliff, Derek Trucks, Los Lobos, Hootie & Blowfish, and Blind Melon. Shipe music is described as cinematic, appearing in feature films, shorts and documentaries. 36 Shipe tunes rotated on 100 radio stations. ... more

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