Other The East Village Vampire
Bringing Out The Dead

I haven’t written too many out-and-out political songs in my time (well, maybe Cinders & Ashes), so ‘Bringing Out The Dead’ is probably a first. I’d have to check.

The song was inspired by the impending elections in Australia and USA. It just seems ridiculous to me that every few years we go through the same grueling campaigns, candidates and promises. What’s the old saying? The more thing changes, the more they stay the same.

However, rather than bash candidates and their parties for being ineffectual, the song places the blame squarely on us (the voters). At the end of the day, politicians don’t just turn up and govern. We vote them in. For all our talk, for all our dissatisfaction every few years we essentially elect the same interchangeable cast of characters, or as I put it we just keep “bringing out the dead, after all we said”.

Rant over...

Written in August 2012, the music is essentially some stomping, psychedelic glam rock n’ roll. Complete with hand claps, honky tonk piano and my attempt at backing singers (there are 5 vocal tracks in total), there is a pretty strong David Bowie, T. Rex and Roxy Music influence in this one. There is also a bit of The Stooges and New York Dolls in there as well – I tried to model the lo-fi production on those bands.

Also, it may not be very obvious but Jimi Hendrix’s ‘The Star’s That Play With Laughing Sam’s Dice’ was a big influence on the song - If not in sound, then in structure. I have always loved how Hendrix kicked the song off with a structured intro that quickly gives way to a free form jam. It sounds like Hendrix was having a party whilst recording. I was trying to do a similar thing here.

Oh yeah, for the intro I sampled Richard Nixon’s infamous ‘I am not a crook’ television address from 1973. I reckon it sets the mood nicely.

I think that once this track gets cooking it really moves. Personally, I like this one.

Hope you enjoy!

LYRICS...

There’s a long way to go
In this year of election - oh my!
And it’s taking a toll
Cause we voted them in one by one

We’re bringing out the dead
After all we said

There’s a long road to hoe
In this mood of reflection – oh my!
And if the cracks will show
Then promises burn ONE BY ONE!

We’re bringing out the dead
After all we said...

This message is paid for by all the:
Faceless,
Nameless,
Feed up,
Unrepresented
People who keep voting them in

What’s it all about?

We’re bringing out the dead
After all we said...

We’re bringing out the dead
After all we’ve said and done.

Bringing Out The Dead by The East Village Vampire is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.