Local Culture
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George Bush vs Martin Luther King
Kirkby Times hosts
another song for you. This ones back to the roots - back to the old blues - a poor
white mans interpretation of the blues 2003 that is.
Every song has a story - the story behind this is simple - I wanted to do a small tribute
for the young kid Thomas Thompson who recently fell victim to Bullycide - i.e., he was
driven to kill himself by bullies. Thomas was one of the magnificent young generation
which took part in anti war protests recently, when Tony Blair dragged us into a
slaughter of the Iraqi people. In many ways this action by Blair was bullying also -
dropping bombs on poor innocent young children, making orphans of thousands, and
destroying the Countries schools, hospitals and basic amenities which ensured the
wellbeing of the Iraqi people. Thomas, though young in his years, was older in his
wisdom, and his life, though short, will be an inspiration for others, for the
times he shone out with his humanity, his compassion and basic kindness. These
qualities in a human being are sneered at by the more cynical; all too often
the bullies in life are admired and praised, just like we praised the Military
for devastating Iraq. We are often taught to admire the most ruthless businessmen;
we pour praise on the inhumane, those with no compassion and those who see kindness
as a weakness to be exploited. The song is a comparison between two men, one a great
man and the other a bully of the worse sort - more a bully's sidekick.
Below is a short piece from this website praising the kids, like Thomas, who led
the way for us to make a difference.
"These Children are a shining example to us all and deserve to be congratulated
for having the guts to make a stand against Tony Blair. In London, hundreds of
pupils actually made it to Downing Street and blocked traffic outside. Police
were caught by surprise and it must be said that the pictures of Police on Channel
5 news showed them to be arresting or dragging away these youngsters. Any Policeman
nicking a young anti war protestor ought to be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
One of the Pupils at the Downing Street demo told reporters he was "expecting to
get detention". Kirkby Times would give him a medal."
Download the song by right clicking on the small photo below and 'saving as'.
The song itself is simply samples of George Bush and Martin Luther King with a
blues-beat in the background, plus my own guitar(s) - recorded live.
A song is not much to offer, but it's something. I think Thomas would have appreciated
Martin Luther King's speeches, if not my guitar playing. The songs free and maybe it
will inspire some Merseyside Musicians into maybe doing something to raise the issue
of bullying. The song itself is not about Thomas - it's just an anti war song which
was recorded after the news about Thomas broke. I dedicate it to him and to all the
young kids who stood up against the Iraq War. They were right.
Rest in peace Thomas.
For those interested - the song was recorded on a 1.8 GHz home made computer
using a terratec EWX 24/96 sound card, an old fender imitation electric guitar
which is hooked through a Boss ME-6 sound effects pedal then hooked up to the soundcard. The song was recorded
live by simply laying down drum samples and playing guitar live over it. The
guitar was recorded in two takes - one for each guitar. The voice samples
were added later and seem to match in with the steady blues beat.
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