the protest song

for this brief, we were instructed to write a song considering the fundamental elements of early african american music but in response to contemporary issues. the topic was to be political or societal issues – perhaps child poverty in britain, the refugee crisis or a story in the news. i chose to collaborate with my coursemate, aaron eagles, to write this song. we quickly decided on the misuse and glamourisation of drugs in modern pop culture as our topic and began writing. aaron was to write two verses of lyrics for him to rap, whilst my job was to work on the instrumentation and write a melodic chorus.

 

(verse 1 – aaron)

 

we’re living in the age of experiments,

man are on a different page and it’s evident,

taking trips on the flake or the ketamine,

or base or amphetamine,

i pray it’s not heroin,

i could never judge someone cos they snort a line,

when their favourite artists sing about it all the time,

but when are we gonna draw the line,

take these words as a message don’t wait for a sign,

drug culture is glamourised but trust me it can kill you,

nearly lost my dad to it and brudda that’s the real truth,

i could never judge you i don’t know what you’ve been through,

just don’t encourage others to get on that buzz with you,

we lost mac miller, whitney and winehouse,

all that talent but that talent went and died out,

there ain’t never no one there when the light’s out,

there ain’t ever no one there when the light’s out.

 

(chorus – adam)

 

and now the situation’s dire for people we admire,

you glamourise a lifestyle, we know that you’re a liar, we know,

we know,

and your words they mean nothing because we know you’re bluffing,

why can’t you open up your mouth and just say something useful instead,

cos then you, then you, you might not end up dead,

then you might not end up dead.

 

(verse 2 – aaron)

 

i’m not tryna preach, believe me i’m not innocent,

but surely there’s some steps that maybe we can try and implement,

i just think celebrities with people who they influence,

should think about the consequence as death begins to increment,

we’re all the same but in different situations,

most of us work and live life from a pay slip,

and wait all day to hear an artist on a station,

so of course you get jealous when you hear them getting wasted,

cos your boss has been a prick,

or your partner’s been a wanker,

believe me when i say it drug abuse is not the answer,

people think it’s funny, joke about it like it’s banter,

but it takes real strength to admit and hold your hands up,

i respect you if you can, i won’t blame you if you can’t,

i know shit gets tough and life hits you hard,

but if we all help each other, everyone play their part,

maybe we can intervene and make a stop before it starts.

 

(chorus – adam)

 

and now the situation’s dire for people we admire,

you glamourise a lifestyle, we know that you’re a liar, we know,

we know,

and your words they mean nothing because we know you’re bluffing,

why can’t you open up your mouth and just say something useful instead,

cos then you, then you, you might not end up dead,

then you might not end up dead.

 

(outro – adam)

 

(softer) and now the situation’s dire for people we admire,

you glamourise a lifestyle, we know that you’re a liar,

we know.

 

the track is titled ‘glamourise’ and it came out better than i had expected. it has a great guitar hook, teamed with meaningful lyrics and a powerful chorus, evoking emotion and expressing the frustration that aaron and i feel in regard to the subject of the song. we feel we met the brief and wrote a powerful track in protest of the prevalent attitudes to drugs in modern pop culture.

 

above is the co-write agreement signed by myself and aaron, stating the possession of the track is equal between the pair of us as writers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMn9rLJkf2I&feature=youtu.be – a link to a video in which aaron himself outlines the roles within the songwriting process, justly crediting the relevant parties and thus confirming ownership of the song as equal between the two of us as writers.