The Dem-O-Cratic Blues

On again off again, in again out. 

Thant’s what this crazy world is all about. 

Soaring high on day one, crashing by ten

The pastor says hear me? And we answer amen. 

I should probably stick to storytelling because a poet I am not. But once every death of a pope (the Italian version of once in a blue moon) the mood strikes and I set about the business of writing a song. Last night as I transcoded video while keeping updated on the republican shenanigans and their abuse of everything sacred to the Constitution, I picked up my every-ready acoustic guitar and mashed a few chords together.  Specifically, for the musicians in the room, a blues-ballad in Am. A minor being an emotionally charged key with unlimited dynamic potential. You’ll find it everywhere from Mozart to Lynyrd Skynyrd, requiems to soaring jam-fest stadium anthems, (yes I can hear the magic flute of the free bird). I am jamming along with my big right foot keeping solid, if heavy, time as Rachael Maddow decries the stolen spirit of the American ethic as a result of the wanna be dictator covering up yet another felony, this one a crime against humanity not simply those born of color. I am finding it difficult to play what I initially envisioned to be something uplifting and pleasant as the story unfolds. It is like trying to sing about unicorns and rainbows with a death metal back. I can feel myself in a vacuum sucked towards a bleak combination of deep-fried blues and folk protest. This soaring heart of the dove in flight crap isn’t happening. 

I put the guitar down, jot the progression in my note pad (Am-B#m-F-C-D-Am) and give my full attention to what I hear Rachael call the most significant moment in recent United States history. Yo. I can feel my temperature rise along with my blood pressure as she describes the latest assaults on our democracy by the thugs who seem proud of their ability to create suffering, hardship and mass incarceration along with a sprinkling of state-sponsored genocide for good fascist measure. Despite the polls, she continues, that indicate a country more inclined than ever to impeach, the data roars the sordid message that we remain almost split on the issue. I scream (ala Joe Cocker) Are you telling me that half of the American people still think this bozo is anything but a carnival clown? Good God a-mitey. 

Please excuse me for being flabbergasted by this. That despite every corrupt, evil, taunting, immoral, unethical, violent, diabolical and spectacularly stoopid action of an inept, vulgar, uneducated, failed, spiteful, soulless, bigoted and racist homophobe, half the country STILL agrees with his policies? Half? Seriously? Fifty percent? One of every two? Somebody I trust? A neighbor? A teacher? A fan in the bleachers? 

We are doomed. 

Winston Churchill once astutely noted that the best way to argue against democracy is to have a five minute conversation with an average voter. I feel the blues coming on again in a sinister shade of desperation. 

I pour another glass of red wine

And listen for the news

of a saner day tomorrow

sung by dem-o-cratic Blues. 

Repeat chorus and jam the shit outta the refrain.