The Other Side of the Fence
By Sherrill Kennelly © 2010
It’s a dry hate risin' from her ash.
The phoenix sings to pierce the heart of man.
Flames rise up between. Disease our minds and add to misery.
Cortez, he’s back to conquer. It’s ancient history.
At heaven’s gate, there’s a key reserved for the homeland refugee.
The other side of the fence.
The other side of hate.
There’s a key at heaven's gate
For those who died along the way.
Jesus, He walked on the water.
Our neighbors, they walk across need.
Illusions of the truth, conscience clean, will leave a man to bleed.
Drug smugglers, miracles, and martyrs. Traffickers and folkloric ballet.
Illegal immigrants, cultured indigenous. “Go back home” rhetoric of today.
The other side of the fence.
The other side of heresy.
At heaven’s gate there’s a special key
For the homeland refugee.
Clutch tight, you, to your holy grail, you on the right side of fate.
It’s just a fence between, it separates the truth from cliche.
Apple pie thick as hate, they serve at the Minute Man Cafe.
On the wall a target silhouette, of an outlaw they have named Jose.
The other side of the fence.
The other side of heresy.
At heaven’s gate there’s a special key
For the homeland refugee.
The other side of the fence.
The other side of hate.
There’s a key at heaven's gate
For those who died along the way.
There’s a key at heaven's gate
For those who died for the American way.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Other Side of the Fence
At our last meeting, we asked if Sherrill Kennelly would share her lyrics to her song The Other Side of the Fence, and she graciously agreed. But that wasn't good enough for me. I invited her over tonight and record the song. Give it a listen, and let us know what you think. Is she channeling Woody Guthrie?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I just think she hits it on the head. That verse about the Minute Man Cafe really captures the callousness and complete lack of empathy so easily found here in Arizona. It's real. Yeah, this is like Woody Guthrie, and the Tex-Mex flavor of the music is a great backdrop for the lyrics. I'm impressed by this song.
ReplyDeleteAnd her voice sounds great on this. Nice recording Ted!
This was done in one take with one mic. I added a little reverb and compression. We played around with me adding some harmonies on the chorus, but, well, you've heard me sing. We decided to skip that.
ReplyDeleteIt took me about six listens before I got the meaning of the "key at heaven's gate."
I posted this song at The Cool-Lab (a smallish forum for home recordists), and it's gotten some good feedback: http://www.cool-lab.org/index.php?topic=2025
Hope you get more recorded and posted to The Cool-Lab! We're all wowed over here. -AC
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty ironic the Google Ads that have been placed on this page. One in particular linked to a real crackpot Web site. And don't mean run-of-the-mill crackpot; I mean writes-favorably-about-Glenn-Beck crackpot.
ReplyDeleteI note that all the current ads are about border control. How do they do that? Is there a need for the ads? My blogger page doesn't have any ads on it.
ReplyDelete