Choke a Man
Oppression takes many forms. Sometimes overt, often subtle; ten thousand ways to choke us from our birthright(s). This song was born amid the tragic death of George Floyd and the release of The Social Dilemma movie. My artistic process involved asking how I might express the anguish of the oppressed. I spent 3 days in the space of prayer and reflection.
In terms of form, the answer came quickly – it had to be a blues tune - sending me back to the very beginning of my music career – opening up for John Lee Hooker when I was 16 years old at the Winston-Salem Street Scene festival. It was a pivotal moment meeting Mr. Hooker at such a young age. I wanted the rhythm to be somewhat choked, but not to the extent that the structure would lose integrity. So the rhythm feels ambiguous, upside down, as it floats between 3/4 and 6/8. Also, there isn’t a word in the English language that adequately describes my feelings about the corrupt brokenness of the US government – so I mashed up the words “democracy “and “debacle”:
Sham debocracy breeds cunning plans, from Louisiana to Afghanistan
The intention was also to speak to industrialized culture being cut off from the earth:
Crying for the mother; Stripped from the earth
Thirsting for the waters; Cursed by our birth
In the video John and I wanted to provide evocative images to underpin the song’s lyrics. Personally, the most significant images are the two instances of Dartian appearing in Facebook’s computer server rooms. In the first appearance, a technical ‘happy accident’ led to his body being translucent – as if merged with the machine that many fear is out of control.
- Jeff Firewalker
Lyrics: Jeff Firewalker
Arrangement: Michael Hynes and Jeff Firewalker
Keyboards: John Medeski
Keyboard programming: Micheal Hynes
Vocals: Datrian Johnson
Guitars: Duane Simpson, Adam Matar
Bass: Michael Hynes
Drums: Ted Marks, Jeff Firewalker
Production: Michael Hynes and Jeff Firewalker
Mixing Engineer: Michael Hynes
Mastering Engineer: Michael Hynes
Music and Lyrics registered with BMI, copyright 2020
Lyrics
Sham debocracy breed cunning plans
From the ‘Louisiana to Afghanistan
There’s gotta’ be, oh there’s gotta’ be
10 thousand ways to choke a man
So many tricks, to disguise the hate
Grade-school tagged for prison - it’s a one-track fate
There’s gotta’ be, oh there’s gotta’ be
10 thousand ways to choke a man
Crying for the mother, stripped from the earth, thirsting for the waters, cursed by our birth
Sister, daughter, mother Ain’t no fisher queen
Empty net, crippled fisher king
There’s gotta’ be, oh there’s gotta’ be
10 thousand ways to choke a man
Cut from our power - no grail in our hand
Dystopian movie scene, change has gotta land
There’s gotta’ be, oh There’s gotta’ be
10 thousand ways to choke a man
Crying for the mother, stripped from the earth, thirsting for the waters, cursed by our birth
Breathing shouldn’t be a crippling ask
Freedom shouldn’t be such a damming task
From my Iroquois brothers To Chinese railroad slaves
Gotta’ wake up to Supplication
One of these days
