April song: High and Lonesome 

Shot on iPhone 7

"These are my thoughts as I climb to the top. With a sack full of bullets and a head that won't stop." 

It was difficult to write these words. It was even more difficult to sing them without sounding or feeling like a mass shooter. It's hard to write the words mass shooter. In 1966 an ex-Marine named Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin, TX. According to Wikipedia, he killed 13 people and injured 31. The eventual total dead would be 17.

Since this massacre, according to the Washington Post, there have been 175 mass shootings in which at least 4 people were killed. 

I wanted to write this song simply to offer another perspective on the subject. We have already heard a lot from politicians and those who oppose and support the second amendment and so, I think it's time to get to know the shooters. How do we do this? They are our children and siblings, people who are in our lives yet they become killers. Some are older and some are younger. They are more often than not male. What makes a human do such an inhumane thing? This song is nothing more than an attempt to wonder about this.

Lyrics:

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

I’ll be 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

You’ll see 

I climbed high on the mountain 

I got lost on the sea 

I climbed high on the mountain 

You’d be better with me 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

I’ll be 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

You’ll see 

These are my thoughts as I climb to the top 

With a sack full of bullets and a head that won’t stop 

These are my thoughts as I climb to the top 

Oh you better come see 

Just don’t get too close to me 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome 

High and lonesome

Technical Specs:     

UA Apollo Twin     

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) 3.4 GHz Intel Core i5     

AT 4033 Microphone     

AT 4021 Microphone 

Background vocals by Kelly Atkins   

She recorded them at home using a Rode mic and Pro Tools.   

Cascade M39 Stereo Pair Microphones     

1970s Univox “Beatle” Bass     

1963 Gibson B-25    

1991 Gibson Les Paul Standard 

Generic cocktail kit     

Honer melodica  

1970s Yamaha Console Piano     

Written, recorded, and mixed at home. 2019 (BMI) Warship Songs.     

Mastered by Warren Gardiner at Gardiner Audio in Melbourne, AUS 

 

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